Photo: Meta.mk, 19 December 2023
Metamorphosis Foundation launched a process of establishing a Coalition For Responsible Artificial Intelligence, that will include stakeholders from several sectors, informed Bardhyl Jashari, Executive Director of the Foundation, closing this year’s edition of the international conference “e-Society.mk”, which was organized by Metamorphosis for the 19th time.
As Jashari explained at the end of the conference that took place in Skopje, the coalition should encompass not only non-governmental organizations but also experts from the academic and business sector so that “we can be sure that all stakeholders are involved in shaping our future since we say that AI is defining our future”.
“We know that AI is a complex thing and what is important is that AI is not just coding and algorithms, but mostly presents a challenge for us from the civil society sector to get involved as to ensure that AI is used responsibly and unleashes all of our creativity to encourage innovation…”, noted Jashari.
He also noted that AI should not be seen as something harmful for mankind that requires an adequate response, but clear rules about the development of artificial intelligence should be established from the very beginning.
“It is not a matter of whether AI will harm us and how such detrimental effects can be prevented, but to make sure that from the very beginning, that harm cannot be done, allowing us to use it in the best possible way to unleash our creativity and our innovation, and embedding them in this future. We are all responsible, and all of us must take care to make this possible”, noted Jashari.
Commenting the several sessions of today’s 19th international conference of the Foundation Metamorphosis on the topic “Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights: Finding the Right Balance between Innovation and Responsibility”, Jashari especially addressed the issue of techno-phobia, recognizing it as a phenomenon that needs suppressing and requiring knowledge and responsible steps to make that happen as to define the borderlines promptly.
“We do not want to talk about AI or some other technology as something dangerous and detrimental and to spread technophobia. What needs to be done is to be responsible and think about how can we develop it, apply it, and use it. This is something that we, as an organization, are trying to do from the very establishment back in 2004”, stated Jashari.
Transparency should be taken into consideration in the process of conceptualizing the measures for the best possible application of AI, he stressed.
“Transparency is necessary on several levels. The first level, of course, is related to the transparency of the algorithms, which is a very difficult part since we have the private sector, copyrights, and many other issues related to the procurement of AI tools. This is something that all civil society organizations working on the field of transparency of public procurement should take into account”, said Jashari, noting that one should be especially careful since artificial intelligence, unfortunately, is frequently abused for spreading disinformation.
“And all this demands a great deal of work, not only by fact-checkers but also by other stakeholders that have something in common with regulating AI in whatever manner, especially in the regulation of the election process and the way it shapes our future in next three or four years”, specified the Executive Director of the Metamorphosis Foundation.
