There is a saying in Silicon Valley that “Big Data is the New Oil.” What do people mean by this? Big Data is crucial to the use and development of algorithms and artificial intelligence (“AI”). Algorithms and AI are the machines; Big Data is the fuel that makes the machines run. Just as oil made machines and factories run in the Industrial Age, Big Data makes the relevant machines run in the Algorithmic Society. AI-driven tools play an increasingly important role in the media: from smart tools that assist journalists in producing their stories to the fully automated production of news stories (robot journalism), from audience analytics that inform editorial decisions to AI-driven news recommendations. As such, AI-driven tools are more than simple tools. Within newsrooms, AI-driven tools exemplify potentially far-reaching structural changes in internal routines and divisions of responsibility between humans and machines.
“The power of speech is what distinguishes us from other animals and from any machines yet invented. If we cannot express our thoughts and feelings, we can never realise our full humanity.”[1] This quote from historian Timothy Garton Ash captures well the central role of freedom of speech for our democratic society and us as individual citizens. As a central tenet of democratic societies, free speech is powerfully protected as a fundamental right. Technology, again, plays an important role in shaping the way the media exercise their democratic role and responsibility[2]. The right to freedom of expression is central to informing our thinking about the potential of and threats from AI for the role of the news media in a digital society. AI and its impact on society and public values is attracting considerable attention from regulators and law makers around the world and slowly in South Asian countries in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. A plethora of institutions public, private or a combination of both are currently drafting ethical and legal standards for the responsible use of AI in a range of sectors, from medicine to education and public service but most of it is focused in the North. Meanwhile, the radical shift in communication and information technology paved the way for digital advancements and innovation, which sparked a digital revolution in South Asia primarily in bigger markets like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. These digital revolutions are inevitable for a nation’s development. The arrival of bot anchors started with the introduction of AI news anchors through Xinhua, a state news agency in China, in 2018, the world of journalism has witnessed the adoption of next-generation technology. In 2020, they introduced Xin Xiowei, a virtual news presenter who can mimic human voice, gestures and mannerisms in 3D. Recently in India, a significant milestone in Indian journalism was achieved with the launch of the nation’s first AI anchor by The India Today group[3]. The bot named Sana is assigned to present news updates several times a day and will be appearing Aaj Tak news channel of the India Today group. Media channel in Pakistan also introduced the first AI TV talk show, “AI Talk,” by private infotainment broadcaster Discover Pakistan[4]. Most media professionals identify the growing dependence on algorithms and automation, which threatens to challenge the credibility and trustworthiness of journalism. Along with these concerns, AI also raises concerns regarding job security and also the possibility of perpetuating biases in the data which it uses to generate content.
The Constitution of India enshrines the freedom of speech and expression for citizens in Article 19 (1) (a). However, much like global standards, it is not a right without limitations. The state can impose reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2), with maintenance of ‘public order’ being one of the widely misused grounds. However, India has seen landmark judicial precedents that have reinvigorated free speech by incorporating multiple tests of proximity, proportionality and arbitrariness, in response to state excesses. The recent Supreme Court judgement of Shreya Singhal v. Union of India[5] remains an influential ruling in this regard. It gave a sense of determinacy to the public order conundrum. The apex court conclusively adopted the clear and present danger test of Brandenburg v. Ohio and held that incitement of violence is a sine qua non for a public order restriction. However, the rise of big tech, coupled with an intrusive majoritarian government, can insidiously challenge legal precedence. While a plethora of stringent national security laws exist despite being subject to criticism, misinformation and hate speech have become rampant and prompted calls for legal intervention. The NITI Aayog, the foremost policy think-tank of the government of India has formulated a National Strategy Paper on Artificial Intelligence to come up with a roadmap for AI regulation. It emphasises on harnessing India’s AI capability for economic development. The government envisages a collaborative role with the private players and aims to foster innovation in AI. The paper has identified relevant sectors where AI could potentially be employed. However, in light of the regulatory vacuum in which AI is likely to operate, many of these interventions could impose restrictions on free speech if the pitfalls are ignored. Interestingly, the National Strategy Paper recognises that there could be biases in ostensibly neutral data. It also throws light on the distortions in AI performance caused by the “Black Box Phenomenon”. The conception of a “Black Box” refers to the difficulty in identifying the linkage between the input data and the final results generated due to the opacity of algorithms. As a consequence, AI functions cannot often be rationalized. The limited understanding of such opaque processes is thus likely to create loopholes in free speech regulation. in light of the conspicuous absence of an unequivocal commitment to free speech in the policy paper.
The Constitution of Pakistan clearly and explicitly provides the citizens of Pakistan with the right to freedom of expression. Article 19 states, “Every citizen has the right to freedom of expression and the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam, the integrity, security, or defense of Pakistan or any part of it, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency, or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, committing or inciting an offense.” Pakistan happens to be one of the very few countries that formally recognize the right to information as a constitutional right. This right ensures the authorization to have an opinion and to freely express it. In essence, it is a significant component of a democratic state and freedom in general. However, the country has witnessed worst crackdown on free speech and freedom of expression in recent years with blocking of websites and complete takedown of social media platforms[6].
Social media and search platforms increasingly dominate how individuals’ access and share information and ideas and how news is disseminated. Algorithms and artificial intelligence applications determine how widely, when and with which audiences and individuals’ content is shared. Massive datasets that combine browsing histories, user demographics, semantic and sentiment analyses and numerous other factors feed into increasingly personalized algorithmic models to rank and curate information, that is, to show information to individuals or implicitly exclude it. Paid, sponsored or hashtagged content may be promoted to the exclusion or demotion of other content. Social media newsfeeds display content according to subjective assessments of how interesting or engaging content might be to a user; as a result, individuals may be offered little or no exposure to certain types of critical social or political stories and content posted to their platforms. Artificial intelligence shapes the world of information in a way that is opaque to the user and often even to the platform doing the curation. Artificial intelligence in the field of content display is driving towards greater personalization of each individual’s online experience; in an era of information abundance, personalization promises to order the chaos of the Internet, allowing individuals to find requested information. Benefits may include the ability to access information and services in a greater range of languages or information that is timelier and more relevant to one’s personal experience or preferences. Artificial intelligence-driven personalization may also minimize exposure to diverse views, interfering with individual agency to seek and share ideas and opinions across ideological, political or societal divisions. Such personalization may reinforce biases and incentivize the promotion and recommendation of inflammatory content or disinformation in order to sustain users’ online engagement. To be sure, all sorts of social and cultural settings may limit an individual’s exposure to information. But by optimizing for engagement and virality at scale, artificial intelligence -assisted personalization may undermine an individual’s choice to find certain kinds of content.
This is especially so because algorithms typically, will deprioritize content with lower levels of engagement, banishing independent and user-generated content into obscurity. Savvy actors can exploit rule-based artificial intelligence systems optimized for engagement to gain higher levels of exposure, and by appropriating popular hashtags or using bots, they can achieve outsized online reach to the detriment of information diversity.
As demonstrated by the recent hate speech row involving Facebook in India, and shutdown of all social media platforms in Pakistan over arrest of former Prime Minister, big tech and the modern-day nation-state bear all the more potential to undermine freedom of expression and democracy with sophisticated AI tools at their disposal. Therefore, there is an urgent need to adopt comprehensive legal regulations that would govern AI and negate any chilling effect on free speech. Artificial intelligence must not be utilized as a weapon of choice to usher in an Orwellian dystopia.
[1] Timothy Garton Ash, Free Speech: Ten Principles for a Connected World (Atlantic Books Ltd 2016) 119
[2] Jack M Balkin, ‘Free Speech in the Algorithmic Society: Big Data, Private Governance, and New School
Speech Regulation’ (2017) 51 U.C. Davis Law Review
[3] https://indiaai.gov.in/article/ai-journalism-in-india-did-india-enter-a-new-era-of-broadcasting
[4] https://www.globalvillagespace.com/pakistan-introduces-first-ai-tv-talk-show-launched/
[5] https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/5790b244e561097e45a4e264
[6] https://www.geo.tv/latest/495945-govt-hints-at-blocking-social-networks-yet-again-if-needed