Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave

By Gordon Hopkins You may have noticed something new on the editorial pages of The Fairbury Journal-News. At the bottom of this page is our staff box, where the names of the folks who put contribute to this periodically can be found. Recently added to the staff box is this disclaimer: “100% AI Free.”I have written several columns recently about the potential perils of artificial intelligence and it appears my boss has taken my doom-saying to heart. The publisher is reassuring readers that none of our stories are written by AI.Now, just to be clear, I don't think AI is a bad thing. It is a tool and, like any tool, it can be used for good or bad. A wrench can be used to fix a car or, if you've ever played a game of Clue, then you know it can also be used to murder Colonel Mustard in the conservatory, which is not to say he didn't have it coming, but that's another matter.Using AI to fool people into thinking something was created by a human being when it was not is not limited to news stories.For example…There is a website called Etsy. It is a sort of eBay for crafters. It is a place where one can find all manner of supplies for knitting and sewing and crocheting. There you can buy needles and miles and miles of multicolored yarn for your hand-made projects.You can also find lots and lots of patterns for cute little crochet kittens and puppies and cows and various other baby animals. I wondered for a moment why anyone would want to crochet a cow. Then I remembered I live in Nebraska.Well, according to a story last year on Medium by Alex Chapman, a data scientist studying AI, a great many of those patterns for sale are being produced by AI, and a great many of those cute little kittens and puppies made using the patterns end up looking nothing like the photo posted on Etsy. That is because not only is the pattern AI-generated, so is the photo.More recently, NBC News reported on this story. Etsy issued a statement to NBC News, “We are deeply committed to maintaining the integrity of our marketplace and want to uplift the sellers and items that reflect the best of Etsy, which is why we take action against sellers who misrepresent their items.”So, we aren't just talking about “fake news.” AI is sticking it's digital fingers into more and more pies. Finding a way to ensure you are dealing with an actual life form and not a program will soon become one of the biggest conundrums facing us all.

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