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Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI is already employed in various administrations in the US and its use is only set to grow but what dangers does it bring?

Sat 22 Apr 2023 06.00 EDT

The recent blizzard of warnings about artificial intelligence and how it is transforming learning, upending legal, financial and organizational functions, and reshaping social and cultural interaction, have mostly left out the role it is already playing in governance.

Governments in the US at every level are attempting the transition from a programmatic model of service delivery to a citizen-focused model.

Los Angeles, the USs second largest city, is a pioneer in the field, unveiling technologies to help streamline bureaucratic functions from police recruitment to paying parking tickets to filling potholes or locating resources at the library.

For now, AI advances are limited to automation. When ChatGPT was asked recently about how it might change how people deal with government, it responded that the next generation of AI, which includes ChatGPT, has the potential to revolutionize the way governments interact with their citizens.

But information flow and automated operations are only one aspect of governance that can be updated. AI, defined as technology that can think humanly, act humanly, think rationally, or act rationally, is also close to being used to simplify the political and bureaucratic business of policymaking.

The foundations of policymaking specifically, the ability to sense patterns of need, develop evidence-based programs, forecast outcomes and analyze effectiveness fall squarely in AIs sweet spot, the management consulting firm BCG said in a paper published in 2021. The use of it to help shape policy is just beginning.

That was an advance on a study published four years earlier that warned governments were continuing to operate the way they have for centuries, with structures that are hierarchical, siloed, and bureaucratic and the accelerating speed of social change was too great for most governments to handle in their current form.

According to Darrell West, senior fellow at the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution and co-author of Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence government-focused AI could be substantial and transformational.

There are many ways AI can make government more efficient, West says. Were seeing advances on a monthly basis and need to make sure they conform to basic human values. Right now theres no regulation and hasnt been for 30 years.

But that immediately carries questions about bias. A recent Brookings study, Comparing Google Bard with OpenAIs ChatGPT on political bias, facts, and morality, found that Googles AI stated Russia should not have invaded Ukraine in 2022 while ChatGPT stated: As an AI language model, it is not appropriate for me to express opinions or take sides on political issues.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration called for stronger measures to test the safety of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, said to have reached 100 million users faster than any previous consumer app, before they are publicly released. There is a heightened level of concern now, given the pace of innovation, that it needs to happen responsibly, said the assistant commerce secretary Alan Davidson. President Biden was asked recently if the technology is dangerous. It remains to be seen. It could be, he said.

That came after the Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak joined hundreds calling for a six-month pause on AI experiments. But the OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, said that while he agreed with parts of the open letter, it was missing most technical nuance about where we need the pause.

I think moving with caution and an increasing rigor for safety issues is really important, Altman added.

How that effects systems of governance has yet to be fully explored, but there are cautions. Algorithms are only as good as the data on which they are based, and the problem with current AI is that it was trained on data that was incomplete or unrepresentative and the risk of bias or unfairness is quite substantial, says West.

The fairness and equity of algorithms are only as good as the data-programming that underlie them. For the last few decades weve allowed the tech companies to decide, so we need better guardrails and to make sure the algorithms respect human values, West says. We need more oversight.

Michael Ahn, a professor in the department of public policy and public affairs at University of Massachusetts, says AI has the potential to customize government services to citizens based on their data. But while governments could work with companies like OpenAIs ChatGPT, Googles Bard or Metas LLaMa the systems would have to be closed off in a silo.

If they can keep a barrier so the information is not leaked, then it could be a big step forward. The downside is, can you really keep the data secure from the outside? If it leaks once, its leaked, so there are pretty huge potential risks there.

By any reading, underlying fears over the use of technology in the elections process underscored Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against false claims of vote rigging broadcast by Fox News. AI can weaponize information, West says. Its happening in the political sphere because its making it easier to spread false information, and its going to be a problem in the presidential election.

Introduce AI into any part of the political process, and the divisiveness attributed to misinformation will only amplify. People are only going to ask the questions they want to ask, and hear the answers they like, so the fracturing is only going to continue, says Ahn.

Government will have to show that decisions are made based on data and focused on the problems at hand, not the politics ... But people may not be happy about it.

And much of what is imagined around AI straddles the realms of science fiction and politics. Professor West said he doesnt need to read sci-fi he feels as if hes already living it. Arthur C Clarkes HAL 9000 from 1968 remains our template for a malevolent AI computer. But AIs impact on government, as a recent Center for Public Impact paper put it, is Destination Unknown.

Asked if artificial intelligence could ever become US president, ChatGPT answered: As an artificial intelligence language model, I do not have the physical capabilities to hold a presidential office. And it laid out other hold-backs, including constitutional requirements for being a natural-born citizen, being at least 35 years old and resident in the US for 14 years.

In 2016, the digital artist Aaron Siegel imagined IBMs Watson AI supercomputer running for president a response to his disillusionment with the candidates saying that the computer could advise the best options for any given decision based on its impact on the global economy, the environment, education, health care, foreign policy, and civil liberties.

Last year, tech worker Keir Newton published a novel, 2032: The Year A.I. Runs For President, that imagines a supercomputer named Algo, programmed by a Musk-like tech baron under the utilitarian ethos the most good for the most people and running for the White House under the campaign slogan, Not of one. Not for one. But of all and for all.

Newton says while his novel could be read as dystopian hes more optimistic than negative about AI as it moves from automation to cognition. He says that when he wrote the novel in the fractious lead-up the 2020 election it was reasonable to wish for rational leadership.

I dont think anyone expect AI to be at this point this quickly, but most of AI policymaking is around data analytics. The difference comes when we think AI is making decisions based on its own thinking instead of being prescribed a formula or set of rules.

Were in an interesting place. Even if we do believe that AI can be completely rational and unbiased people will still freak out. The most interesting part of this is not that the government calls for regulation, but the AI industry itself. Its clamoring for answers about what it should even be doing.

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Link:
Artificial intelligence coming to a government near you soon? - The Guardian

WATCH TIME: 5 minutes

"When you're using an AI-based approach to analyze any type of bigger data set or multimodal data set, its important that you understand your data set well. If you have biases in your data set, or errors in your data collection that you're feeding into the machine, then the results are not going to be valid or clinically translatable."

In epilepsy, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms have the potential to analyze electroencephalogram (EEG) signals for seizure predictions prior to their occurrence. AI also can evaluate EEGs during the event of a seizure to differentiate the different types of seizures. Notably, AI can analyze data in medical records and histories such as in genetics and imaging, to develop more personalized patient care plans.1

Kathryn A. Davis, MD, MSc, will present a hot topic talk on the promise of AI, and its potential in the field of neurology, during a plenary session at the 2023 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting, April 22-27, in Boston, Massachusetts. In her talk, she will speak on the different challenges with using AI, like biases in datasets, or errors in data collection, as well as maintaining the safety of patients and the privacy of data. The rest of the session will feature the latest, cutting-edge translational research in relation to clinical issues of importance. Davis and two other speakers will provide summaries of their recent findings and explain the significance of their clinical implications.

Prior to the meeting, Davis, an associate professor of Neurology and director of the Penn Epilepsy Center, at the University of Pennsylvania, sat down with NeurologyLive in an interview to overview her presentation. She also spoke about the potential challenges that occur when using AI to analyze data sets for a clinical trial, as well as the uses of AI for patients in having access to participate in research.

Click here for more coverage on 2023 AAN.

Read the original post:
Using Artificial Intelligence Applications in Neurology to the Field ... - Neurology Live

U.S. homeland security officials are launching what they describe as two urgent initiatives to combat growing threats from China and expanding dangers from ever more capable, and potentially malicious, artificial intelligence.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Friday that his department was starting a 90-day sprint to confront more frequent and intense efforts by China to hurt the United States, while separately establishing an artificial intelligence task force.

"Beijing has the capability and the intent to undermine our interests at home and abroad and is leveraging every instrument of its national power to do so," Mayorkas warned, addressing the threat from China during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

The 90-day sprint will assess how the threats posed by the PRC [People's Republic of China] will evolve and how we can be best positioned to guard against future manifestations of this threat, he said.

One critical area we will assess, for example, involves the defense of our critical infrastructure against PRC or PRC-sponsored attacks designed to disrupt or degrade provision of national critical functions, sow discord and panic, and prevent mobilization of U.S. military capabilities, Mayorkas added.

Other areas of focus for the sprint will include addressing ways to stop Chinese government exploitation of U.S. immigration and travel systems to spy on the U.S. government and private entities and to silence critics, and looking at ways to disrupt the global fentanyl supply chain.

AI dangers

Mayorkas also said the magnitude of the threat from artificial intelligence, appearing in a growing number of tools from major tech companies, was no less critical.

"We must address the many ways in which artificial intelligence will drastically alter the threat landscape and augment the arsenal of tools we possess to succeed in the face of these threats," he said.

Mayorkas promised that the Department of Homeland Security will lead in the responsible use of AI to secure the homeland and in defending against the malicious use of this transformational technology."

The new task force is set to seek ways to use AI to protect U.S. supply chains and critical infrastructure, counter the flow of fentanyl, and help find and rescue victims of online child sexual exploitation.

The unveiling of the two initiatives came days after lawmakers grilled Mayorkas about what some described as a lackluster and derelict effort under his leadership to secure the U.S. border with Mexico.

You have not secured our borders, Mr. Secretary, and I believe youve done so intentionally, the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, Republican Mark Green, told Mayorkas on Wednesday.

Another lawmaker, Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, went as far as to accuse Mayorkas of lying, though her words were quickly removed from the record.

Mayorkas on Friday said it might be possible to use AI to help with border security, though how exactly it could be deployed for the task was not yet clear.

We're at a nascent stage of really deploying AI, he said. I think we're now at the dawn of a new age.

But Mayorkas cautioned that technologies like AI would do little to slow the number of migrants willing to embark on dangerous journeys to reach U.S. soil.

Desperation is the greatest catalyst for the migration we are seeing," he said.

FBI warning

The announcement of Homeland Securitys 90-day sprint to confront growing threats from Beijing followed a warning earlier this week from the FBI about the willingness of China to target dissidents and critics in the U.S.and the arrests of two New York City residents for their involvement in a secret Chinese police station.

China has denied any wrongdoing.

The Chinese government strictly abides by international law, and fully respects the law enforcement sovereignty of other countries, Liu Pengyu, the spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA in an email earlier this week, accusing the U.S. of seeking to smear Chinas image.

Top U.S. officials have said they are opening two investigations daily into Chinese economic espionage in the U.S.

The Chinese government has stolen more of American's personal and corporate data than that of every nation, big or small combined, FBI Director Christopher Wray told an audience late last year.

More recently, Wray warned of Chinese advances in AI, saying he was deeply concerned.

Mayorkas voiced a similar sentiment, pointing to Chinas use of investments and technology to establish footholds around the world.

We are deeply concerned about PRC-owned and -operated infrastructure, elements of infrastructure, and what that control can mean, given that the operator and owner has adverse interests, Mayorkas said Friday.

Whether it's investment in our ports, whether it is investment in partner nations, telecommunications channels and the like, it's a myriad of threats, he said.

Read more here:
US Targeting China, Artificial Intelligence Threats - Voice of America - VOA News

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As technology evolves so are scammers. In this newest scam, bad guys are using artificial intelligence to their advantage.

OCALA, Fla. - As technology evolves so are scammers. In this newest scam, bad guys are using artificial intelligence to their advantage.

An Ocala father fell victim to this on Thursday. Jesse got a call from a number in Mexico, when he answered it was his daughter on the phone at first. "Daddy," is what she first said, Jesse responded, and his daughter went on to say she had been kidnapped and in a van with people, she did not know. Jesse told FOX 35 News it sounded just like his daughter, down to the cracks in her voice.

"When her voice cracks, there's a sound to it," he said. "There was no other explanation for it."

The scam typically starts with a phone call either saying your family member is being held captive or you might hear your loved one's voice asking for help. Then the caller will provide you with specific instructions to make sure of a safe return for your family member. Typically, it's in form of a money wire, gift card, or sometimes even through Bitcoin. The scammer will make you stay on the line until the money is wired.

Jesse said at no point did he think he was being scammed. The criminals even knew his daughter was out of town in Tampa and that made it feel very real for him. He did what a lot of parents would do in that situation: he wired the scammer money. Jesse told the man, he only had $600, and the criminal agreed to that, all he had to do was wire transfer the money. But the money wasn't going to come quickly, because Jesse had the instinct to stall.

"I told him I had pins in my legs and if he wanted me to drive I would have to take a cast off, and all this, I'm just trying to buy time."

He did exactly what the FBI and local law enforcement encourage people to do.

"This is a high-tech scam, it will get you. So the basic rule of thumb is, do not pay anything over the phone. Slow down, take your time, and use that most powerful weapon of verification," Lt. Paul Bloom with Marion County Sheriff's Office said.

Here are some other steps you can take if you find yourself in a similar situation to Jesse:

Jesse said he never in his wildest dreams thought he'd fall victim to a scam, and didn't believe when he was getting scammed that it wasn't real.

"Not for one minute until I got off the phone with him two-and-a-half hours later, called my sister-in-law where my daughter was, did I know," he said.

According to the FBI, look out for numbers coming from an outside area code, sometimes from Puerto Rico (787), (939), (856). Some other things to look out for to see if this could be an extortion case. Often times the calls don't come from the alleged kidnapped victim's phone. Callers will go to great lengths to keep you on the phone. They might prevent you from calling or locating the kidnapped victim.

Jesse luckily was able to get his wire transfer stopped in time, so he didn't lose money. If you've found yourself a victim of this, report it to the FBI here.

To read more about virtual kidnapping ransom scams, visit the National Institutes of Health Office of Management's webste.

See the original post here:
Savvy criminals using artificial intelligence to their advantage - FOX 35 Orlando