As a brown kid, born and raised in a foreign land where the future is always inching closer to the horizons of the present, I often find myself in a dilemma of contrasting perspectives. You see, brown parents don’t understand the concept of opinions – they're quick to put forward their own, but taking one? Hmm…
As a brown kid, I’m stuck in this frustrating loop of conversations with my parents. Trust me, I have a point here, and I'm not just venting. It typically goes like this: I hold a particular viewpoint, they disagree vehemently, and it escalates into a heated argument. A day or two later, they extend an olive branch, offering apologies and promising to be more open to my opinions. This leaves me feeling guilty for my behavior, and I eventually return to them, hoping to revisit the discussion. However, what I often discover is that their perspective remains unchanged; it's just presented in a slightly different package.
I eventually end up making peace with the fact that they’ve been raised in a different generation under circumstances far more uncomfortable than mine, and there are certain cultural and social biases embedded in their conscience, which form the root cause for their disagreement.
A part of me has come to believe that AI and its application are no different from having an argument with your parents. And, I’ll show you how.
Enter ChatGPT:
She presents views, I disagree, I complain, she apologizes, I feel guilty, I revisit, she presents an altered version of the same views as before. I had my colleague read this one and she said, “It feels like I’m talking to my mom.”
In a scoping review published in 2023, researchers have shed light on the pervasive issue of bias and discriminatory outcomes in AI systems. The study highlights a significant challenge faced by most commercial AI systems: their heavy reliance on data collected from a wide range of public and private sources. This data often mirrors the societal inequities stemming from prejudiced beliefs, actions, and laws.
In the above conversation, the algorithm identified the bias in the form of a generalization, specifically the characterization of 'brown parents' as 'strict parents' in the first paragraph of its second response. But, doesn’t completely eliminate it.
The shift to AI is an ongoing process and according to PwC, the Middle East is expected to accrue 2% of the total global benefits of AI in 2030. This is equivalent to a whopping US$320 billion. We're witnessing the UAE government taking active strides in AI adoption, almost like when our parents try to keep up with the latest technology trends.
Media firms, advertising agencies, brands, and technology solution providers are all feeling the push to embrace the shift towards AI in their advertising and marketing efforts. WPP recently grabbed the spotlight with its latest announcement regarding a partnership with NVIDIA, aimed at developing a content engine that will provide WPP's creative teams with access to exceptionally personalized and captivating generative AI capabilities. Another anticipated launch was Google’s chat-based AI tool – Bard. The tool recently also added new features to make it more accessible and helpful in Arabic.
Moreover, the 70th edition of the Cannes Lions Festival presented the first-ever Grand Prix winner from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for HungerStation and Wunderman Thompson’s, ‘The Subconscious Order.’ The campaign tackled the insight of human indecision over what food to order on a delivery app. Using AI, the food delivery platform developed an eye-tracking tool that delves into users' subconscious preferences to assist them in deciding their food cravings.
