The role of artificial intelligence in spreading and combating the risk of disinformation and hate speech was discussed at the event “Combating Disinformation and Hate Speech within the Framework of Artificial Intelligence” organized by the Istanbul Bar Association Information Law Committee’s Artificial Intelligence Working Group. The event was moderated by Att. Celil Aktaş. The chairman of Istanbul Bar Association Information Law Committee Att. Fehmi Ünsal Özmestik made an opening speech and Att. Esra Özgür made an interactive presentation.
The event started by emphasizing that people of our day are constantly connected to networks thus actually heavily dependent on information. Therefore, the risk of disinformation and hate speech has become a greater risk than it was ever before. Then, the concepts of disinformation and hate speech were explained and it was stated that digital platforms have increased these risks. Since digital platforms’ algorithms are based on interaction, they take advantage of their users’ cognitive biases to increase interaction. It was noted that negative emotions such as fear, anger and anxiety were able to trigger most attention and interaction and so these emotions could find more space on digital platforms for themselves.
It was discussed that the widespread use of artificial intelligence tools and their integration into digital platforms increased the risks regarding disinformation and hate speech. It was stated that the visuals produced with artificial intelligence have high credibility, but even if they are not always credible, they make disinformation more effective for they emphasize the untruthful message and make it stronger. Therefore, it was noted that artificial intelligence is an effective tool for spreading malicious contents. On the other hand, it was stated that artificial intelligence can play an important role in combatting to content that constitutes disinformation or hate speech. However, it was also noted that artificial intelligence tools have not yet been successful in detecting all deepfake content or bot accounts since not enough resources are allocated to this matter.
Consequently, it was stated that information technologies are neutral and what matters is how they are used, therefore what we really need is to develop AI literacy, an ethical and transparent understanding of AI, and appropriate regulations against disinformation and hate speech Finally, it was noted that technology companies are at the center of this debate, which links the issue to the broader debate on techno feudality.
To watch the event on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40d39g_y7QU
Att. Celil AKTAŞ, LL.M.
