Dangers of AI
- Admin
- Technology
- 17 Nov, 2025
Privacy Risks
Generative AI - is showing up more and more in digital services and spaces. Besides ethical concerns that have already impacted creators, journalists, and the environment - there are risks to data privacy of users. It’s the new favorite tool of autocrats to use AI to monitor civilians and maintain their grips on people. China is already utilizing facial-recognition software powered by AI to [monitor citizens through security cameras].
- People will be less willing to risk dissent and activism if their chances of being caught are increased.*
Lack of Risk-Awareness
AI continues to advance so quickly it’s beoming harder to determine what content is genuine or what has been created by AI. AI’s growth is currently outpacing the research on the negative impacts that this could have on society at large. Big tech is more concerned with owning the most advanced AI systems.
Lack of Humanity
This technology is influencing so much of human life already. We are seeing discrimination at job hiring, housing applications, and take over of social media spaces in a phenomenon known as “dead internet”. There are arguments that AI can be used for humanitarian efforts - projects like HURIDOCS which uses AI to track and verify evidence of human rights violations are a step in the right direciton. But without proper regulations and ways to monitor it’s usage, those in power will always have access to the latest and most refined AI tools. This negates any goodwill that can come to the activists.
Making us Dumber
Studies from microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University found that AI reduces people’s ability to think critically towards information verfication - something that could directly impact how we consume information and news passed down from the government or intertwined state media. The creation of fake social-media accounts, deepfake videos and other AI-generated images sew seeds of confusion and prevent people from trusting what they see and hear. Zimbabwe’s election was impacted by the spread of misinformation through AI-powered bots.
Sources
- Tactical Tech A fieldguide to the climate and information crisis
- How Autocrats Weaponize AI — And How to Fight Back
- Letter to a Trump-Supporting Technologist
- A gigantic public experiment that no one has asked for
- Adopting Proactive AI Identity Security
- Understanding AI Identity in Identity and Access Management
- Tell Congress: Reject Cruz Moratorium on State, Local AI Regulation