Misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is hitting home as some prominent Barbadians, including Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, have fallen victim.
Worldwide, the use and misuse of AI has been a hot topic and Mottley has been vocal in calling for a regional policy, saying the Caribbean Community needed a unified approach as it could undermine democracy.
“The fact that you can take my voice and my image and pretend that I have made a speech that I did not make, is what will undermine democracy, encourage fake news and cause people conflict, not just at the political level, but think of families, think of relationships, think of workplaces, she said.
“These are things that we will deal with and must deal with. In the region, we must come up with a common framework, because AI is empowering, but it can be destructive of human civilisation.”
Mottley’s image and voice were used as part of a fake Barbados Stock Exchange (BSE) website on Facebook, which is now defunct. The page featured AI-generated videos of several individuals, including Mottley and former calypso monarch Ian iWeb Webster, who promoted the benefits of using the stock exchange. Upon closer inspection, it can be determined the images were not quite right, though it was clear who they were trying to portray.
Condemnation
Since then, the BSE, on its legitimate
Facebook site, condemned the fake site.
“The BSE has been made aware that there are accounts impersonating the exchange on Facebook and Instagram. We take this matter seriously and are working to resolve it. For legitimate updates and communications, please follow the official social media accounts of the BSE,” it stated.
This is not the only case of fraudulent news, as one of Barbados’ media outlets is a frequent target of AI misuse. One of the articles also on Facebook, depicts Minister of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman, who recently won the by-election in St James North, being taken away in handcuffs by blurred white police officers for an undisclosed reason. The image, while fake, is used along with an actual picture of Blackman as an inset displayed on the page.
In response, Blackman said these images were floating around for months and assured they were untrue.
“That has been circulating from before the by-election, for at least six months. That is fake news. We live in a time of fake news and people oftentimes have too much time on their hands, but I can confirm all those images are fake.
“What we need to do is use the technology for good. The time some spend using it for mischief, if they used that time doing good, things would be a lot better. People have asked me about them, and I can assure the public I have not been arrested
Continued on Page 4.
Bajan superstar Rihanna also a victim of AI misuse
or charged for anything,” he said.
Barbadian megastar Rihanna has also wrestled with AI misuse. In February, People. com reported the Fenty Beauty mogul reacted to an Instagram video titled Rihanna’s Most Expensive Purchases
which featured a voiceover from her – except it was not her. The video uses a clip from a press conference for Rihanna’s 2023 Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Half-time Show to make it appear as though she was answering questions about indulgent purchases.
The DAILY NATION sought a private sector perspective with president of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Paul Inniss, who said AI was a doubleedged sword.
“AI has a role, it can actually allow us to leap forward in ways that we probably never thought of even five, ten years ago . . . but the challenge with AI is managing the risks associated with irresponsible use of AI. It is frightening because someone can actually create an image of me that looks and sounds exactly like me and compromise my reputation.
“So, from a business perspective, the use of AI and how irresponsible actors use it can compromise the brand and reputation of companies, organisations and people and as you know, once information gets out, true or false, everybody thinks that you’re guilty until proven innocent. Even if you’re proven innocent, the damage is done . . . and even if someone or a company thought that they were compromised to the point where they have to take legal action, that in itself is a cost that you probably would not have considered or budgeted for,” he said.
A veteran attorney, who asked not to be identified, said there was little that could be done currently
as there was no firm legislation dealing with AI misuse.
“There’s the Computer Misuse Act but the truth of the matter is that I don’t think there’s any specific law dealing with it. However, the law is evolving and I’m sure they’re working on it, such as at the level of the United Nations.
“It’s a problem in and of itself in terms of what people could do with it, but we don’t have legislation yet because it is still in its relative infancy. We don’t have laws yet but it is going to pose a problem and they’re going to have to do something about it because you can use Artificial Intelligence to do a lot of things, even research papers,” he said, noting the University of the West Indies was also tackling the issue.
The attorney said the Cyber Crime Bill could address the problem.
“It is something that we have to monitor, and Government will have to deal with this problem of the misuse of AI but how do you know who did it? How do you track them? I’m not sure if you can determine that easily; it’s a real problem,” he said. (CA)
