After his previous bestsellers, Yuval Noah Harari delivers in “Nexus” a history of human information networks. This work is a dive into the heart of Artificial Intelligence, its promises, and its dangers. Interviewed by Jean Leymarie, the author lifts the veil on the major current questions raised by the generalization of AI in our societies.
The impact of algorithms on democracy
Returning to the recent election of Donald Trump to the White House, Yuval Noah Harari underlines that the greatest intervention of AI in recent years has taken place in the media, social networks. In his eyes, “the latter are controlled by AI algorithms which, in a deliberate manner, spread anger and hatred and, in doing so, torpedo the foundations of democracy”. It raises a paradox: “we have before us the most sophisticated technology in history and yet we are losing the ability to talk to each other, to have a rational conversation”. He sees in Trump the “candidate of anger” who talks about “making America great again when the United States is already the most powerful country in the world and is winning the AI race. Why are they angry? What are they afraid of?” ?” Harari wonders.
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AI: new mistress of the media?
Harari defines AI as the first technology which is, not a “tool”but one “agent”to the extent that she is capable of making decisions for herself. Unlike a computer that only executes the requests of a human being, AI “creates, invents new ideas, learns on her own”. It is therefore a faculty of autonomy and taking initiative which distinguishes it from all the technologies of the past. Harari uses the example of the media: “these form politics, the human debate. The decision of what we will talk about depends on an editor-in-chief. On the platforms, the AI now decides which will be the next video at the top of your feed “She even found how people could spend more time on the networks: it is by stirring up hatred that we build the loyalty of a human being because, in this way, they are more engaged on a theme.”.
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“AI has potential positive effects”
Harari notes that AI is now making more and more decisions in our societies, decisions that engineers cannot predict. For him, the question is not how to stop the development of AI but how to ensure its benefits.“This technology may have potential positive effectshe continues. For example, the lack of doctors could be compensated by AIs who would know your medical records and could formulate appropriate diagnoses. In education, an AI tutor could support each child to help them progress. Humans will increasingly live inside a world designed by non-human intelligence.he professes. However, the arrival of AI in many spheres of daily life raises ethical questions to which, this time, only human beings can provide answers, otherwise AI could destroy our privacy.
Interpreter: Michel Zlotowski
