Common Sense: Big Tech’s ‘AI’: When Artificial Intelligence Becomes Artificial Censorship

AI? It stands for artificial intelligence. Think of it as Google search on steroids. When you ask a
question, these platforms, let by ChatGPT (a Microsoft product), instead of providing a list of
places to go to get information on a given topic, simply sends you the “truth.” On topic after
topic, you ask basically what should you think/believe about something and you get a reasoned
response to that question. None of this “he said/she said” stuff. Oh sure, the caveat of not
always getting it right comes with the answer. However, the damage is done when they get
things wrong.

It can get even worse. By virtue of a logic that escapes common sense or simple fairness, these
platforms can make you disappear. How is that possible? Ask George Washington University
law professor, Jonathan Turley, who ChatGPT has erased from the discussion. First, you have a
bunch of provably false stories generated about an individual. In the case of Turley, the errors
in the original stories boggle the mind. He was accused of sexual harassment on a trip he led
with students in 2018 at Georgetown University, where he taught. In fact, Turley was never accused of sexual harassment. There was no trip in 2018. He never even taught at Georgetown.

To support these wild claims, ChatGPT cited a Washington Post article, quoting a statement
from the Post. Once again, a slight problem. The Post never ran a story, much less put out a
statement. To add to this comedy of errors, another AI program, Microsoft’s Bing, powered by
GPT-4 had repeated this false claim.

The solution to this during the the Old School days would have been pretty simple. ChatGPT
would acknowledge the error(s), apologize, and update the information on the wronged
individual. In our digitally driven age that is today, it turns out it is not that simple. Apparently,
in the algorithmic universe, the way you eliminate the false story is make sure there is no
discussion of the individual. You simply disappear, and the errors about you go away.
Raise your hand if you think any of this is good or fair. Too often the intelligence promoted on
these platforms is truly all too artificial. This problem goes far beyond the widely reported
reality that far too frequently Big Tech comes to the discussion with an obvious political bias in
the liberal direction. This is truly a case of blaming the victim for the mistakes these platforms
have made. As Turley observed, “you can either be seen falsely as a felon or be unseen entirely
on the ubiquitous information system. Capone or Casper, gangster or ghost—your choice.”
To make matters even worse, Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, sees the advancing of AI as a way
to end “various conspiracy theories” and block certain views from being “magnified by digital
channels.” They do all of this now with no liability or accountability.

The Common Sense Corner believes the current status quo is unacceptable. It may take
legislation to get things right, but we cannot allow Big Tech to erase people for the mistakes
they make. We also need to develop standards that hold these financial giants accountable and
responsible for their mistakes, along with what they do to correct them. Finally, it should be
the law that these platforms will offer the maximum about of free speech and discussion.
Americans do not want or need a Big Brother to decide who gets to be heard or what is allowed
to be said. The answer to incorrect and bad speech is more speech by more individuals.
Time for we the people to stand up and be heard. Time to tell Big Tech they need to get their
act together.

About the author: Bill Greener III is a political and communications expert with 50 years of experience.  He has led both the communications and political divisions of the Republican National Committee (RNC), as well as having been instrumental in the development and execution of the program for multiple Republican National Conventions.  Since 1998, he has been the Founding Partner of Greener and Hook, a firm specializing in political campaigns and public affairs advocacy.  In addition, he now is a senior advisor to Immyrse, a programmatic digital advertising firm operating in both the political (Republican Ads) and public affairs (Public Affairs Partners) spaces.  Currently, he resides in New Bern, North Carolina with his wife of 43 years, Leigh, where they celebrate the joy in having four grown children and eight perfect grandchildren.