[NNagain] The growing challenges of discerning authentic vs. inauthentic information and identity

[rjmcmahon]

Hmm, this seems non trivial. The epistemology that I try to use is based 
on the scientific method but I also use a lot of belief that others 
follow this method too.

Also, with the current trends in AI, it seems to me we're mostly 
creating ant mills vs knowledge and discovery.

https://youtu.be/LEKwQxO4EZU?feature=shared

I asked ChatGPT if it behaved like an ant mill. It responded no. I then 
asked it to compare itself with and ant mill and basically said it 
behaved exactly like an ant mill.

Then I asked it some questions about Elon Musk and it always prefaced 
everything with, "Elon is a God."

I stopped using it after that. No knowledge to be found.

Bob
> Dear NNAgain’ers,
> 
> Today on a different listserv, I joined a discussion on what I sense
> will be a pressing issue across multiple sectors in 2024. I recognize
> this is not NN-related and so if it isn’t of interest, I apologize
> in advance. However as most of us have technology background here, my
> sense is we generally have a better sense of the looming issue than
> non-technical folks at the moment. Below I outline some of the
> contours of the evolving problem space, and invite each of you to
> share your thoughts as I sense the diversity of perspectives here
> might help with brainstorming potential solutions necessary for civil
> societies to continue:
> 
> Premise: We are at the precipice of an extended era where
> inauthenticity vs. authenticity will be difficult to discern, that
> that involves multiple forms of content including biometrics and more.
> 
> 
> In isolated pockets, governments are becoming aware of this - however
> it’s going to be really difficult for pluralistic societies like the
> U.S. where any of the Estates that traditionally would have a role to
> play in verifying the authentic vs. inauthentic nature of something
> have had public trust in them as arbiters eroding. And it doesn’t
> help that both politics and advertisement rely on presenting things as
> 100% authentic when they’re often only somewhat so (or, to be more
> generous, mix facts with lots of beliefs).
> 
> Not supporting autocracies, however they have a bit of a “home
> field” advantage here because there is only one singular narrative -
> and anyone who questions it can be fired/isolated,
> imprisoned/disappeared, or killed/executed. Tools of such regimes, to
> include filtering, censorship, and repression - will be used to ensure
> only one narrative (authentic or not, mostly likely the latter) is
> seen by a majority of their population. Pluralistic societies will
> have it much harder, and the last ten years will pale in comparison to
> the challenges of sensemaking in a world flooded by both media and
> mediums of questionable authenticity.
> 
> Back in 2019-2020, I did my darnest to connect Pablo and an additional
> People-Centered Internet expert with Salesforce that has a lot of CRM
> data with the proposal that SF could provide a feature where, as part
> of the CRM, “out of band” questions could be included to do some
> sort of additional level of trust that the entity on the other end was
> who they claimed to be. Unfortunately that pitch was overshadowed by
> larger concerns that SF’s software, give some of its features, could
> be misused in ways not intended by them (think about ways akin to
> Cambridge Analytica) and they were trying to figure out how they could
> incorporate features to prevent actors from misusing/abusing their
> software in ways not intended by them as a company.
> 
> 2024 is going to be hard. Manipulation of what people appear to see,
> hear, sense - and thus know - is becoming sadly easier.
> 
> Meanwhile understanding of the importance of triangulation,
> triangulation, triangulation from different perspective to discern
> authenticity vs. inauthenticity remains time-consuming and hard.
> Perhaps we need to consider standing up private sector Dun &
> Bradstreet-like entities for identity and other important adjudicatory
> functions - however that doesn’t immediately solve the issue of how
> to help the public in a would experiencing a flood of questionable
> content, information, and identities? And who “watches” the
> adjudicators?
> 
> David Bray, PhD Principal, LeadDoAdapt Ventures, Inc. [1]
> 
> Loomis Innovation Council Co-Chair [2] & Distinguished Fellow
> Henry S. Stimson Center [3], Business Executives for National Security
> [4]
> 
> Links:
> ------
> [1] https://www.leaddoadapt.com/
> [2] https://napawash.org/fellow/305629
> [3] https://www.stimson.org/ppl/david-bray/
> [4] https://bens.org/people/dr-david-bray/
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