Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa warned that artificial intelligence could strip humanity of its agency unless immediate legislative action is taken. Ressa, co-chair of a UN panel on AI, urged citizens to campaign for regulation, emphasizing it as a public safety issue rather than a free speech concern.
The increasing capabilities of artificial intelligence raise concerns about its potential to undermine human decision-making and societal structures, prompting calls for regulation from prominent figures and international bodies.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa warned that artificial intelligence poses a significant threat to human agency and requires immediate legislative action. Speaking in Oslo, Ressa, who co-chairs the United Nations' international scientific panel on AI, stated that AI has already influenced society through social media and by manipulating human biology via chatbots.
Ressa described three waves of AI's impact: the first being social media platforms that polarized societies, the second hacking human biology through intimacy and chatbots, and the current wave involving agentic AI that can act for humans. She asserted that citizens must campaign for AI regulation, framing it as a public safety issue.
Dismissing arguments that regulating AI would cede ground to China, Ressa noted that China implements more safeguards for its citizens than Silicon Valley does globally, citing TikTok's age restrictions in China. She called for tech companies to be held accountable for damages, welcoming lawsuits against Meta Platforms that resulted in an $18 billion settlement over the next decade concerning teenage use of its platforms.
Ressa also welcomed age limits on social media but argued that addictive features should be removed for all users, as manipulation affects adults too. She proposed the creation of communication platforms independent of Big Tech, similar to public works like parks, citing Rappler Communities as an example of a secure, decentralized platform for real conversations.