The dangers of Authenticity in today’s Digital World.

At Cillco we care about new technology and AI is of course on our agenda, looking into ways we can utilizing AI to improve business processes for ourselves and our customers. We're committed to innovation but understand the balance between progress and security.

Central to this pursuit is Raymond Pettersen, our Cloud Infrastructure and Security Lead. Please join us in this blog post where he delves into AI’s potential for concealed hazards and threats.

The dangers of authenticity in today's digital world

Artificial intelligence (AI) has over the years developed into a hot buzzword in today’s technological landscape. Everywhere you turn, there are discussions about its potential from simple tasks in industrial industry to self-driving cars and language models. It all sounds promising, and often praised. However, if we step back one moment and consider the potential implications and consequences there are some strong concerns that we should all be aware of.

While AI is being praised for almost endless possibilities, it also casts shadows that are less frequently discussed. One such shadow is the gradual movement towards a world where digital content once created by human sentiment is now a product created from lines of code. This leads to compromise in trust. Take online reviews as an example, once made by humans it’s more likely that the online reviews you are reading were created by a machine that intends to persuade you into buying a product. Perhaps you’ve already purchased something online with a top rating and countless positive feedbacks but felt something was off. It turned out to be a poor product, and maybe even a fake one. It's possible that none or few of those reviews were made by real humans and you were deceived.

Social media was made with the intention of human interactions. Sharing thoughts, ideas, and parts of our daily lives. You still think social media is all about human interactions? Think again. As AI evolves, it becomes more sophisticated to the point where we can no longer distinguish between a human counterpart and an artificial one. AI is slowly but with increasing speed impacting our online conversations. One could ask, what is the harm? Imagine a world where you don’t know if you are talking to a friend online or an AI imposter. In the case of it being an AI, why is it talking to you and what is it trying to accomplish by doing so?

If you’re old enough to remember the rise of youtube, you’re likely like me thinking anything you found there was authentic. Or at-least not produced to mislead and misguide. Seeing was believing, but is it like that today? AI has improved deepfakes to the point that we can no longer distinguish if it’s a real or fake person talking on a video. Facial expressions and voices are copied to perfection. Sure, it was possible to do so earlier than 2023 but it would take someone with large resources to do so. Now, a 14-year-old can accomplish the same and probably better easily on his computer, just to rile people up for a few likes. States with ill intentions are now less dependent on large resources to actively mislead and impact the internet. We are entering an era where your eyes and ears can be and will be easily deceived.

The essence of humans in the digital world is eroding day by day.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Like all technology, AI is a tool. Tools in the wrong hands has the potential to cause damage. But tools can also create wonderful things. It’s up to us as humans to decide where the road leads from here and regulate AI thus avoiding some of the pitfalls of it being part of our daily lives.

While we navigate this digital maze and figure things out, a few things are of upmost importance.

• Critical thinking is more important now than ever.
• Question everything you encounter online, especially things that are provocative.
• Don’t believe anyone that preaches that AI is only a positive. It’s simply untrue, and they might lack the understanding of how AI impacts the world. Share your knowledge on why AI is a tool that can be used with both positive and negative outcome.

Stay alert, informed, and don’t compromise truth.