August 12, 2022 AI is the New Drug Dealer Targeting Everyone in Sight

Optimized algorithms feed users a dopamine rush, holding them hostage from the real world – researchers are calling for change.

By Udi Cohen – CEO and Co-founder of Vendict

Artificial intelligence is often thought of as the next generation of programming, but it’s so, so much more than that. AI models should be thought of as agents with human-like sophistication that can be scaled unlimitedly. This has given rise to the ultra-addictive technology platforms like Facebook, TikTok and gaming companies that have essentially become dopamine drug dealers servicing nearly every person on the planet – especially the young. These AI agents are the forefathers of our increasingly divided world full of echo chambers and radicalization. Their goal is to optimize revenues by getting users increasingly addicted to the platforms on which they operate and their success at doing this is unprecedented. Corporations using these tools have skirted accountability for their impact, so far, but hopefully that’s about to change. 

Think of the AI behind your newsfeed doom scrolling as narcotics dealers, because that’s essentially what they are. These sophisticated algorithms are optimized to feed users content that continues their dopamine rush cycle until it’s suddenly 3am and you’ve been staring at your phone all night. By understanding what content users gravitate to (and what keeps them staring at their phones), these algorithms have effectively drifted many of us from the real world into the bubble world they’ve created around us. The radicalization of our youth, our political process and our perception of the world has been undeniable. These AI drug dealers feed on what inflames us most because that’s what spurs engagement and keeps people coming back for more. This is obviously very unhealthy and undeniably true – just look around. Polarization, radicalization, hatred, fear mongering and fake news are at all time highs. Something has to change. The AI researchers working at these companies and building this technology need to be accountable for the outcomes they are creating.

After witnessing the impact on our culture across the world, AI researchers are realizing the power of the tools they’ve created and the massively negative impact it’s had on the health of humanity world-wide. More and more, values are speaking louder than paychecks and many of the leading researchers in the space are updating their priorities to building the technology needed to keep the drug-dealing platforms accountable for the outcomes they create. To give one example, the Center for Humane Technology was founded by former Google employees who felt the need to raise awareness regarding the dangers of the new AI-based attention economy. The world our children will inherit is being built before our eyes and I don’t think there are many of us who are particularly proud of what it looks like. 

The way to change this is for the people building these tools to realign their work with the values that matter to them. As an AI researcher, I know there are more of us interested in creating positive outcomes than generating enormous returns for TikTok investors. We have to alter our perception of work to align more with the values we care about. In the early days, we were still proving this technology – now, we’ve seen what it can do and it’s scary. The time is now for a shift in how we build things and what higher purpose we want them to serve. The same way this technology has been weaponized against humanity in exchange for corporate profits, it can be reversed and weaponized into true and transparent knowledge transfer. We can tell when groups are getting radicalized and we can use this technology to pull these groups back into reality and truth. The only thing standing between us and the dystopian abyss is the choice that researchers in this field can make between building technology that benefits humanity or continuing down this path to global despair. 

Udi Cohen is the CEO of Vendict, a company that utilizes linguistic AI technology to strengthen security compliance and enable effective regulation and trust. He is a 25-year veteran technologist, with expertise in software development, and artificial intelligence in addition to degrees in computer science, moral philosophy, and MBA.

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