In this war of hegemony, many are concerned about the use of artificial intelligence for war purposes...Jakarta (ANTARA) - Governments around the world must make sure that artificial intelligence (AI) is not used to bend truth and ignore human ethics, the fifth Indonesian president Megawati Soekarnoputri has stressed.
According to her, the world is currently facing uncertainty due to geopolitical rivalries, trade wars, natural resource crises, as well as technological competition.
"In this war of hegemony, many are concerned about the use of artificial intelligence for war purposes that threaten civilization," she highlighted while speaking before the rectors of universities in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday, according to a statement issued the same day.
She noted the extraordinary development of AI, which has led to increased productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness; reduced human error; as well as ensured high accuracy in solving problems related to health, agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, and education.
Considering the rapid development of AI, some people have even imagined that the creative power that is God's authority can be transferred to the human realm through the advancement of AI.
"You can imagine if humans live in a system filled with 'robot humans.' These robot humans are all algorithmic and make decisions based on the rationality of artificial intelligence programs, accompanied by Big Data processing," Megawati said.
"While humans are born naturally, complete with emotions and feelings, in various futuristic films, the AI revolution creates bio-human robotics. You can imagine if artificial humans were born without going through a natural reproduction process as a work of God," she added.
"Anxiety about the future of AI that replaces the role of humans is widely expressed. Moreover, with its autonomous decisions that can ignore human ethics and conscience, it creates a threat to humanity," she continued.
She said that the basis for such anxiety has been evident in several cases, including during the Indonesian elections, when AI was misused to create a near-perfect imitation of human speech to spread fake news, hoaxes, and for other social engineering tactics.
The daughter of Indonesia's founding father, Soekarno, then related her experience of being the subject of an AI-made video, which showed her singing a song.
Megawati said that she never sang the song shown in the video. The fake video was generated from footage of her meeting with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP).
She highlighted that the AI-made video seemed real, as if it were original.
"It was amazing that my voice was made the same. Even though it was (a video from) a meeting. How great that video of me singing was spreading everywhere. But I also ask, what if all of that (AI's capabilities) were then used for other purposes? Only treated for the sake of power and human lust, for example? What if AI's capabilities were used to colonize again?" she asked.
She then referred to a recent incident in England, where AI-made fake news fueled social unrest, radicalism, and extremism.
"All of these are serious warning signs when technology ignores the truth and ethics of humanity," she cautioned.
Therefore, Megawati said she hopes that academics around the world will strive to direct and control the development of AI to protect humanity.
"Hopefully, through this very prestigious forum, collaboration in research and education based on the passion of humanity will resonate strongly. Technological progress, including AI, must be framed in efforts to improve civilization, build social harmony, and more civilized relations between nations," she added.
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Translator: Narda Margaretha Sinambela, Yashinta Difa
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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