Artificial Intelligence as a Tool of Repression

Audio of this conversation is available via your favorite podcast service. Every year, the think tank Freedom House conducts an in-depth look at digital rights across the globe, employing over 80 analysts to report on and score the trajectory of countries on indicators including obstacles to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights.. This year’s iteration is headlined Advances in Artificial Intelligence Are Amplifying a Crisis for Human Rights Online. Once again this year, I spoke to two of the report’s main authors: Allie Funk, Research Director for Technology and Democracy at Freedom House, and Kian Vesteinsson, Senior Research Analyst for Technology and Democracy. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of the discussion. Allie Funk: My name is Allie Funk, I’m research director for technology and democracy at Freedom House and, luckily, a co-author of this year’s Freedom on the Net report. Kian Vesteinsson: Great to be here with you, Justin. My name’s Kian Vesteinsson, I’m a senior researcher for technology and democracy at Freedom House and also a co-author of this year’s report. Justin Hendrix: This is the second year I’ve had you all on the podcast to talk about this report, which has been going now for 13 years, lucky 13, but unfortunately, it’s not good news. We’ve got the 13th consecutive year that you report of declines in internet freedom. Allie Funk: I keep saying I’ve been doing this report for six years, one of these years, I can’t wait to say that internet…Artificial Intelligence as a Tool of Repression