AI in Immersive Technologies: Transforming Our World
Introduction
Last week, Amazon announced its integration of AI into various products, such as smart glasses, smart home systems, and its voice assistant, Alexa. This week, Goal is set to reveal its latest AI and extended reality (XR) features, while Google is preparing to unveil its new line of Pixel phones equipped with Google AI next week. With the constant advancements in AI technology, we can expect even more revolutionary changes in the near future. The integration of AI into increasingly immersive and responsive personal devices will transform the way we navigate and interact with the world.
The Immersive Experience
AI is accelerating technology’s trend towards greater immersion, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. It allows users to easily create their content and enhances creative possibilities when combined with technologies like augmented or virtual reality. However, this immersion also raises concerns related to privacy, handling, and security. In immersive spaces, our bodies often forget that the content we interact with is virtual, not physical. While this is beneficial for pain treatment and employee training, it also amplifies the impact of harassment, assault, disinformation, and manipulation campaigns.
The Threat of Manipulation
Generative AI has the potential to worsen manipulation in immersive environments, as it can create endless streams of interactive media tailored to be as persuasive or deceptive as possible. This poses a significant challenge in terms of safeguarding privacy and preventing misuse of AI in immersive technologies. To avoid these risks, regulators need to establish comprehensive traffic rules to govern the development and use of AI. Privacy and ethical safeguards are essential to protect users from the threats posed by these emerging technologies.
Examples of Manipulation
One example of AI-powered manipulation is the use of deepfakes, which spread disinformation and fuel harassment. Microtargeting is another tactic that directs users towards addictive behaviors and radicalization. In immersive environments, these manipulative techniques are even more effective due to the heightened sense of reality. By subtly editing photographs of political candidates to appeal to individual voters, AI can significantly influence voting decisions. Immersion also enables the collection of body data, revealing sensitive details about users’ demographics, habits, and health.
Protecting User Privacy
To mitigate the risks associated with AI in immersive technologies, it is crucial to establish clear and meaningful privacy and ethical safeguards. Policymakers should enact strong privacy laws that protect user data, prevent unintended use of data, and give users greater control over the collection and usage of their information. In the absence of comprehensive federal privacy laws, regulatory agencies like the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should exercise their consumer protection authority to guide companies on fair practices in immersive spaces involving AI.
Developing Best Practices
While policymakers work on implementing regulations, companies should collaborate with experts to develop best practices for handling user data, regulating advertising on their platforms, and designing immersive AI-generated experiences to minimize the threat of manipulation. Education is also crucial; individuals need to understand how these technologies work, the data collected, and the potential harm they can cause to individuals and society. By empowering users and providing them with the necessary knowledge, these tools can be harnessed for their benefit.
The Way Forward
As AI and immersive technologies become increasingly integral to our daily lives, it is essential to strike a balance between innovation and privacy protection. Policymakers, companies, and individuals must work together to ensure the safe and responsible use of AI in immersive environments. By implementing comprehensive privacy laws, establishing regulations, and fostering education, we can harness the transformative power of AI while safeguarding individual rights and protecting against manipulation.
Conclusion
The integration of AI into immersive technologies presents exciting possibilities but also significant challenges. While AI has the potential to revolutionize our world, it is essential to address privacy concerns and prevent manipulation. Clear privacy laws, ethical safeguards, and responsible practices are necessary to create a safe and empowering environment for users. By navigating this new frontier responsibly, we can unlock the full potential of AI in immersive technologies and shape a future that benefits everyone.
Summary
Last week, Amazon announced the integration of AI into various products, while Goal and Google are set to reveal their own AI advancements in the coming weeks. As AI continues to revolutionize technology, its integration into immersive environments brings both opportunities and challenges. The immersion made possible by AI blurs the line between the physical and virtual worlds, opening up creative possibilities but also increasing the risks of manipulation and privacy breaches. Immersive AI-generated experiences have the potential to personalize influence campaigns, exacerbating the spread of disinformation and harassment. To mitigate these risks, policymakers should enact comprehensive privacy laws, while companies should collaborate with experts to establish best practices. Education and awareness are vital in empowering individuals and ensuring responsible usage of these technologies. By striking a balance between innovation and privacy protection, we can harness the transformative power of AI in immersive technologies.
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Last week, Amazon Announced was integrating AI into a number of products (including smart glasses, smart home systems and its voice assistant, Alexa) that help users navigate the world. This week Goal will reveal its latest AI and extended reality (XR) features, and next week Google will reveal its next line of Pixel phones equipped with Google AI. If you thought AI was already there”revolutionary”, just wait until it’s part of the increasingly immersive and responsive personal devices that power our lives.
AI is already accelerating technology’s trend toward greater immersion, blurring the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds and allowing users to easily create theirs content. When combined with technologies such as augmented or virtual reality, it will open up a world of creative possibilities, but will also raise new questions related to privacy. handling, and security. In immersive spaces, our bodies often forget that the content we interact with is virtual, not physical. This is great for treat pain and training employees. However, it also means that harassment and assault in virtual reality can feel realand so? Disinformation and manipulation campaigns. They are more effective.
Generative AI could make manipulation worse in immersive environments, creating endless streams of interactive media customized to be as persuasive or deceptive as possible. To avoid this, regulators should avoid mistakes they have made in the past and act now to ensure that appropriate traffic rules are in place for its development and use. Without adequate privacy protections, the integration of AI into immersive environments could amplify the threats posed by these emerging technologies.
Take misinformation as an example. With all the intimate data generated in immersive environments, actors motivated to manipulate people could boost their use of AI to create Influence campaigns adapted to each individual.. One study by pioneering virtual reality researcher Jeremy Bailenson shows that by subtly editing photographs of political candidates’ faces to make them look more like a given voter, it is possible to make that person more likely to vote for the candidate. The threat of manipulation is exacerbated in immersive environments, which often collect body data such as head and hand movement. That information can potentially reveal sensitive details such as a user’s demographics, habits, and health, leading to detailed profiling of users’ interests, personality, and characteristics. Imagine a chatbot in virtual reality that analyzes data about your online habits and the content your eyes focus on to determine the most compelling way to sell you a product, politicalor idea, all in real time.
AI-powered manipulation in immersive environments will allow nefarious actors to run influence campaigns at scale, personalized to each user. We are already familiar with deepfakes that spread disinformation and fuel harassmentand microtargeting that directs users towards addictive behaviors and radicalization. The added element of immersion makes it even easier to manipulate people.
To mitigate the risks associated with AI in immersive technologies and provide people with a safe environment to adopt them, clear and meaningful privacy and ethical safeguards are needed. Policymakers should pass strong privacy laws that safeguard user data, prevent unintended uses of this data, and give users more control over what is collected and why. In the meantime, without a comprehensive federal privacy law in place, regulatory agencies like the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should use their consumer protection authority to guide companies on what types of practices are “unfair and misleading”in immersive spaces, particularly when AI is involved. Until more formal regulations are introduced, companies should collaborate with experts to develop best practices for handling user data, regulate advertising on their platforms, and design immersive AI-generated experiences to minimize the threat of manipulation.
While we wait for policy makers to catch up, it is essential that people educate themselves about how these technologies workhe data collected, how that data is used, and what to damage they can cause to individuals and society. Immersive AI-based technologies are increasingly becoming part of our daily lives and changing the way we interact with others and the world around us. People need to be empowered so that these tools work better for them, and not the other way around.
WIRED Opinion publishes articles from external contributors representing a wide range of points of view. Read more opinions here. Submit an opinion piece at ideas@wired.com.
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