Uncontrolled internet, AI could be ‘evil gremlins’

By Fr. Shay Cullen, Founder since 1974

Millions of Filipinos open their mobile phones or computers every day, unaware of the power and influence of telecommunications companies (telcos) and internet service providers (ISPs), now enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI), to enable calls, deliver information, and transmit messages and images instantly. This AI-driven internet is, at present, an unstoppable force in our lives. Its ability to deliver information; give commands and manipulate data; spread fake news; and influence, groom and sexually abuse people online can harm millions of children and adults. It is like a criminal enterprise enabled by telcos and ignored by the government.

But the internet is also used for good. It is used to promote justice and peace, human rights and Gospel values; protect human dignity; spread truth; counter evil; and challenge oppression and exploitation in our society with truth, love and kindness.

Merriam-Webster defines the internet as an “electronic communications network that connects computer networks and organizational computer facilities around the world.” Access to it is made possible through servers owned and managed by telcos that send electronic signals to devices and connect people around the globe almost instantaneously. The now AI-powered internet signal is said to be the “new God.” It is almost omnipresent and seemingly omnipotent, as it controls human activities, especially financial systems that make the world function. It is a “God” that does not promise or create a new paradise on Earth. It is a “God” more powerful than the humans who created it but cannot fully control it.

With the rapid development of AI, a powerful software program can create another that is even more powerful. AI is fast developing into “superintelligence,” causing grave concern around the world as computer experts and creators of AI programs warn that it is getting beyond their control.

The introduction of satellite internet makes this “God-like presence” all the more powerful — and all the more dangerous — in our lives. It is almost untouchable while ever-present. The highly toxic content on some internet-powered platforms like Reddit and Discord is waking up Philippine law enforcement agencies that seem powerless to stop them from spewing such negative content and allowing child abuse to happen.

It has been discovered that these platforms allow hate speech and influence young people to commit extreme violence, like when a 16-year-old Grade 9 student shot dead two people and wounded others at a school in South Cotabato province on Sept. 18. These same platforms also allow child abusers to connect with children and groom them for sexual acts.

There are many other platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, which have been criticized for allowing child-abuse images and videos to stream, thus endangering children. Some Philippine government officials claim they even endanger national security. Telegram has almost no content control or moderation and allows child-abuse images, self-harm and severe exploitation on its platform. Snapchat’s most dangerous defining feature is “disappearing messages and images,” used by predators to commit sextortion almost without detection.

 

Unsuccessful so far

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) in the Philippines has tried to police and control the content of these platforms without success, as there is no law empowering it to do so. These platforms, the agency said, have been linked to the radicalization and recruitment of minors involved in recent school shootings in the country. They promote nihilistic violent extremism, it added.

The CICC also said the platforms should be “reachable, accountable, and responsive” when the content on their platforms endangers people, especially children, and risks promoting violent acts and self-harm. When it suspended one of the platforms for a time, there was an outcry from users who apparently don’t care about the harm it has done to children. They just want internet access.

How can we imagine this entity called AI? When used to help humans, this technology is a great friend and teacher. When it goes out of control, it can be used to hurt young people. It transforms from being a friend and teacher into a dangerous creature, not unlike Dr. Jekyll becoming Mr. Hyde.

The destructive AI coming into the Philippines through the telcos is what I call an “evil gremlin.” A gremlin is a mythical figure that was said to have infiltrated the engines of British fighter pilots in World War II and was blamed for the frequent mechanical failures of their aircraft rather than the aircraft builders or mechanics being blamed for putting them in grave danger. Philippine law enforcement officers are unable to bring the evil gremlins — the AI-driven social media platforms — to account because they are based outside the Philippines.

However, the National Telecommunications Commission and the Department of Information and Communications Technology under Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda have that power. They have the power to regulate what comes into the Philippines and block the evil gremlins with legally mandated, installation-ready blocking software. They have power over the ISPs and their parent companies, the telcos, and must exercise it in accordance with the law for the sake of the people, especially children, being abused and exploited by the “evil gremlin.”

No one knows why they don’t enforce the law to protect children. Allegations of collusion with telcos are unfounded, they say. The United Nations Children’s Fund says more than 2 million children have been sexually exploited over the internet. Republic Act 11930, or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act of 2022, replaces and drastically strengthens RA 9775, or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, which this column proposed and promoted with then-Sen. Jamby Madrigal.

Under the new law, ISP and telco officials, social media intermediaries, and financial entities that fail to block or report these horrific illegal activities and allow AI-driven child abuse to continue on the internet will face severe administrative fines, operational suspensions, or criminal liability for noncompliance. Yet, somehow, they all enjoy impunity and protection through the political influence the telcos wield. We could pray that they repent and protect children and not allow them to be abused.

Email: shaycullen@gmail.com