By: Maria Williams
Artificial intelligence (AI) has ignited a golden age of innovation. But amidst the excitement, many are considering the potential for widespread misinformation. This issue is particularly concerning in the entrepreneurial space, where individuals rely heavily on educational content to acquire new skills and build their businesses.
Computer scientist and award-winning author Melanie Mitchell highlights the paradox of AI in National Academics: “How do we know how smart these systems are? My conclusion was that it’s tough to say, because they have this kind of weird mix of being very smart and very dumb, and we don’t know what the right tests are to give them,” she said. “I think we have a lot of work to do to make these systems more trustworthy.”
These systems excel at statistical analysis but lack contextual understanding, leading them to unquestioningly adopt data patterns, even if they yield incorrect results. This, coupled with the increasing accessibility of AI content creation tools, creates a breeding ground for misinformation created by non-experts.
Charlie Lass, founder and CEO of Humble, Inc., a launchpad platform for entrepreneurs, recently announced that the company has restricted AI-generated content. Lass said, “With AI easily generating content, anyone can pose as an expert. Our mission is crucial, connecting entrepreneurs, wantrepreneurs, freelancers, and founders to information with verified experts. Learning without vetting information is a gamble, especially in today’s world, where AI can create deceptively realistic content. Other platforms often fail to verify either the content or the source leaving users vulnerable to misinformation. We take a different approach, ensuring that the information you receive comes from real people with genuine expertise.”
A recent study commissioned by four industry-leading associations paints a worrying picture. Two-thirds of surveyed business leaders predict hundreds of thousands of jobs in the entertainment sector alone will be lost to generative AI. While this study focuses on creative industries, the impact is predicted to permeate all sectors, forcing many to undergo career transitions. Here, the reliance on AI-generated educational content becomes a double-edged sword.
Lass stated, “Safeguarding users from AI content posted by non-experts giving bad advice is important. At the moment, it is all too easy for someone to ask AI to make them sound like an expert. For instance, they could say, make me sound like an expert and give me the tips for first-time entrepreneurs. Anyone can do this, so we are now at a point where people do not know if they’re getting real information from a person qualified to give advice.”
The progression of AI text-to-video generators like Sora will enable anyone to make content about virtually anything. That may be good or bad for those simply scrolling for entertainment’s sake. The question is, what does it mean for human content creators, and those learning from content they can’t verify is factual? While it can be a valuable tool for learning, it cannot replace the human element. Mentorship, collaboration, and real-world experience remain essential for entrepreneurial success.
Lass explained, “The issue behind relying on AI to generate or reference content is that they do not know and can’t assure where source data came from. There is no vetting process, so there are a handful of data models that everyone is referring to, which could have come from absolutely anywhere versus a series of vetted human experts who know what they are talking about.” He continued, “You have a far greater likelihood of having accurate information from a group of human experts than from a random data model delivered by a handful of extremely powerful organizations. Because Humble is essentially an educational resource for entrepreneurs, we have decided to limit the perimeters of AI-generated content. We handpick our expert contributors and vet them for their experience and knowledge on the subjects they discuss on the platform. AI is no doubt a valuable tool in the hands of a knowledgeable, experienced person educating the entrepreneurs accessing Humble’s wealth of information. What we assure to our users is that all of the content on Humble is coming from a vetted expert.”
The AI landscape has recently seen several controversies, making the future and what this technology means for the general population unclear. The lawsuit against OpenAI, while specific to an individual circumstance, sheds light on the broader concern, as well as the potential for misinformation and lack of transparency. There is a concern that the ways AI platform executives choose to generate profit may negatively affect users. For-profit models are historically less transparent. In this case, there is potentially reduced trust that AI-generated information is unbiased and lacks an agenda.
Lass said, “There are so few organizations that can do what the big seven FANG companies are doing, and we are beholden to them. They prop up the entire stock market and control every aspect of our lives. This is discussed at length in a book called, The Body, which I recommend. These companies hand out enormous amounts of personal data to companies that are well beyond anyone’s regulatory powers. They are multinational and are unaffected by fines. Now there is the ability to transform this disseminated information in a way that would be indiscernible from magic. We are at a point where it’s very difficult for many to recognize AI-generated photos, videos, and content. There’s a huge concern that OpenAI is for profit. They have no incentive to exercise constraint. Power corrupts absolutely, and the mass population has very little power to change it. Humble is doing its part, by creating a platform where we are taking a stance on verified information.”
Published by: Martin De Juan
