a) What current AI-related issues, developments, or decisions do you find especially relevant to contemporary society?

Nowadays, multiple rising issues are related to AI since more and more AI software is appearing. One of the issues I’m most concerned about with AI is deepfakes and misinformation. For instance, as a long-time K-pop follower, I can see the important impact this has in that industry. Last year, there was an incident called the “nth chat room” in South Korea (you can look it up on Google), where participants were men, even male K-pop idols, who participated in spreading deepfake photos related to female idols for the purpose of sexual harassment. The dissemination of such fake photos may be for blackmail and to damage the reputation of those involved. Furthermore, this practice can affect the mental health of the individuals involved. This has received attention from the online community because there have been suicide cases in this industry.

This is just one example to represent the vast social media space out there. When users join social media platforms, they can easily encounter clone accounts posting fake or AI-generated content that can threaten politics (elections, economics, etc.), communication, and the trust of participants. I feel like this is important because. Users need to have a sense of what is accurate information and which sources are really worth trusting. Otherwise, fake information spread across social media will affect many individuals at the same time.

Source for the example of “nth chat room” in South Korea: https://kenh14.vn/soc-200-nam-idol-kpop-sap-bi-vach-tran-tham-gia-nhom-chat-tinh-duc-thu-n-215240830140442166.chn (This is a Vietnamese article, so sorry in advance if you can’t translate it 100%. :D)