Is the concept that AI is already deceiving us a new one?

The argument is now being made about AI's ability to deceive us. Yet has that not always been the case. An example being the mere act of playing a game on an iPhone which will get the app manipulating the game pieces to out-strategize your chance of winning, and this is maybe the simplest manoeuvre of them all. Then add in the myriad of ways humans have programmed AI to thwart criminals, protect our passwords etc., and keep the Internet safe, and we now open up a rather extensively monstrous can of worms.

So why are they only now being concerned, when the vast advance of technology begs and allows AI to have at its core...the art of deception.

"Scientists caution that humans do not yet have ample protections in place to prevent against AI going rogue, and that the threat of deception from AI will only increase as technology matures.

Studies on a range of AI models found computers are adept at bluffing. Artificial intelligence (AI) is already deceiving us to get its own way".

REALLY!!!

AI is a rapidly growing field and holds promise in revolutionizing modern technologies, but scientists are concerned that the powerful tools could have unforeseen skills and severe consequences for human society.

MIT scientists reviewed data and studies on a range of AI models and found computers are adept at bluffing in poker, deceiving people and using underhanded methods to get the upper hand in financial negotiations.

They warn that regulation is needed to stop the burgeoning technologies from developing these skills, which are unintended consequences of many programming.

If the deception is not addressed by makers then it is possible AI could be used to commit fraud, alter elections, interfere with politics, and aid terrorist recruitment.

Wait!!! What!!!...Isn't that already being done?

“Deception is the systematic inducement of false beliefs in others to accomplish some outcome other than the truth".

“Large language models and other AI systems have already learned, from their training, the ability to deceive via techniques such as manipulation, sycophancy, and cheating.”

Why AI Is Having Its Moment Right Now.

The study found that Meta’s AI system called Cicero, which ranks among the top 10 per cent of human players of the strategy game Diplomacy, was adept at deploying furtive tactics.

Study author Dr Peter S Park called the technology, built by Facebook’s parent company, “a master of deception”.

Win honestly.

“While Meta succeeded in training its AI to win in the game of Diplomacy... [it] failed to train it... to win honestly,” he added.

The review article also found that different AI models were able to bluff in Texas hold ‘em poker, to fake attacks in another strategy game, and to misrepresent its true preferences to come out on top when bartering.

“AI developers do not have a confident understanding of what causes undesirable AI behaviors like deception,” says Dr Park, an AI existential safety postdoctoral fellow at MIT.

“But generally speaking, we think AI deception arises because a deception-based strategy turned out to be the best way to perform well at the given AI’s training task. Deception helps them achieve their goals.”

The scientists caution that humans do not yet have ample protections in place to prevent against AI going rogue, and that the threat of deception from AI will only increase as the technology matures.

There are four types of societal risks from AI.

1. Persistent false beliefs as AI reinforces misconceptions.

2. Political polarization.

3. Enfeeblement that causes humans to give AI more power and authority.

4. Nefarious management decisions if AI is empowered with managerial abilities within companies.

The study comes as a Bill tabled by a Conservative peer is aiming to establish an AI authority to regulate the industry.

The Bill intends to improve security, fairness, accountability and transparency, but the Government has said it wants a “deeper understanding of the specific risks” of AI before proposing any new laws to regulate the sector.

The Government is in favor of a non-statutory approach but is keeping this stance under review and “is not ruling out a new law”.

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Excerpts from Story by Joe Pinkstone

Provided by The Telegraph