This week, we welcomed guest lecturer George Chen, who delivered a well-structured, informative, and engaging session on Generative AI. While I am impressed by the rapidly evolving technology, I can't help but reflect on what we may be overlooking in the process.
Since the launch of the first GenAIs, there has been a popular opinion that the technology will close the opportunity gap and drive inclusive progress. Indeed, it helps people lacking digital skills with work that may need external support otherwise. However, in many aspects, GenAI actually enlarges the digital gaps.
Digital divide has become increasingly visible within the application of GenAI. Regionally, in most areas of China, including Hong Kong, ChatGPT is not accessible using typical ways. For certain groups of people, like university teachers and students, AI's power to help with academic projects is more than valuable. However, in these regions, they have to use VPN to open the websites, register a google account, and even try to get a overseas phone number to get access to the full potential of certain AI features. The extra time and money spent could be hurdles for them to enjoy the technology and further widen the gaps.
For different age groups, the access to GenAI is unequal as well. While digital natives, mostly those who were born after the year 2005 in China, are riding the high of the Internet and GenAI tools, and will be witnessing more advancements in the future, digital immigrants, especially those above 50, have been unfamiliar with the idea of AI and refuse to learn about new technologies.
For those who have access to AI tools, digital divide may still exist. A lack of critical thinking could lead to the misuse of AI generated contents.Without the ability to critically evaluate the information produced by AI, individuals may accept outputs at face value, resulting in misinterpretations or misinformation. For example, if a user relies on AI to generate research content without fact checking, the result could be a flawed analysis based on incorrect data.
Another example is the interaction with AI chatbot. Some people simply look for rational suggestions and make final decisions based on their evaluation and judgements, others develop emotional attachment to the bot and make irrational decisions like that 14-year-old boy who committed suicide after interacting with one. In both cases, the misuse of GenAI leads to disasters, and this kind of digital gap may be even harder to bridge.
Ultimately, I believe Generative AI should not be simply characterized by innovation but also by inclusivity and empowerment. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that this technology serves as a tool for progress rather than a source of inequality.
I strongly agree with you that we need to have a critical reflection about GenAI. It is not only the technology itself but also the usage of the innovative technology decides its value in human society. While people have to learn the language and skills communicating with AI, how AI design to be adaptive to all kinds of people is another important question. It is a coadapted process whose final goal must to be beneficial for the development of human society, justice and efficiency. Maybe the mechanism of GenAI should be open to receive the surveillance of public. The balance between the profitability of technology development company and its social responsibility is critical. But I believe that in essence these two aspects should be consistent considering the long-term development and the economic cycles.
ReplyDeleteThere is a point I may have some different thoughts about your statement. That is for the regional divide, the gap may not have the usual meaning because that is the results of political struggles. It is not absolutely better to have access to oversea connections. From the aspect of resource diversity and the efficiency, it is, but from the aspect of resource itself, it may not be true, considering that Chinese GenAI may better fit the Chinese language and have learned more material about Chinese. For the most Chinese who have difficulty to use oversea GenAI, may there are few needs for them to use it. Your statement has insightful enlightenment, but it may need more discussions that the gap is not decided by the general access to all the technology but the access to most matched technology or the technology that can actually change people’s lives.
Thanks for your insightful sharing!
The guest speaker, George Chen, shared insightful perspectives on AI development. While Generative AI holds immense potential, it also risks widening digital divides across regions, generations and user competencies. Addressing these issues requires strategies such as improving regional access through localised tools and infrastructure with multilingual capabilities, fostering generational adoption through targeted education initiatives and promoting the responsible use of AI through ethical guidelines to prevent misuse and misinformation.
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