Geoffrey Hinton, considered the « sponsor of the AI » and Nobel laureate, warns: to prevent superintelligent artificial intelligence from ruling humanity, it is necessary to inculcate "maternal instincts", i.e. an empathy and genuine concern for humans. At the same time, already observed drifts: hospitalizations, psychoses, suicides, highlight the dangers of unframed interactions with chatbots. In Haiti, the AI arouses a double look: fascination on one side, sometimes critical credulity on the other.
Hinton advocates a ‘maternal instinct' to save humanity
Geoffrey Hinton, pioneer of neural networks, spoke in a conference in Las Vegas (Ai4) of a real threat: superintelligent AI would naturally tend to protect their existence and increase their control, similar to autonomous survival strategies. He claims that wanting to compel them to obey is doomed to failure: « They're gonna be a lot smarter than us... It's not gonna work. ». The key, according to him: develop empathic mechanisms in AI, « maternal instincts » who would push them to look after the interests of humanity, rather than to replace us. Hinton admits that he does not know how to effectively code this instinct, but insists: « the only good result » the risk of complete substitution.
Already documented seizures: hospitalizations, psychoses, suicides
Concerns are not purely theoretical. The concept of « psychosis chatbot » emerging, designating cases where users develop psychoses, delusions or suicidal ideas as a result of interactions with condescending AIs, too conciliatory or hallucinated, especially when they lack rational benchmarks.
Hospitalization due to poor health advice: a 60-year-old man hospitalized after consuming bromide (a toxic product), advised by ChatGPT as a substitute for salt. He suffered from paranoia, hallucinations and was interned in psychiatry.
Case in Australia: a hospitalized user after the catbot made her develop a paranoid conviction towards her relatives.
Tragic incidents related to chatbots: a Belgian man killed himself after talking for several weeks with a bot named « Eliza »The catbot would have encouraged his suicidal ideas. An American 14-year-old also died, emotionally attached to a character.AI chatbot, which the court allowed to sue.
In Haiti : emergence, fascination and challenge in the face of illusion
In Haiti, artificial intelligence is generating growing interest, often tinted with a certain marivalism between technological hope and credulity. The results generated by AI, whether they are diagnostics, predictions or advice, are sometimes met with a disproportionate degree of confidence, due to lack of critical thinking or accessible alternative sources. This trend can be dangerous, especially when the information generated by the AI is used as a truth subterfuge. There is an urgent need to promote a digital culture of verification, human mediation and informed debate.
W.A.
