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The majority of Europeans support the use of artificial intelligence in police and military operations, according to a new report by Madrid’s IE University shared with CNBC.
European Tech Insights, which measured the attitudes of more than 3,000 people in Europe, found that 75% support the use of AI technologies such as facial recognition and biometric data for surveillance purposes by police and military. It turns out.
The scope of this support is perhaps surprising since Europe has some of the strictest data privacy regulations in the world. In 2018, the European Union introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a framework that governs how organizations store and process users’ information.
Companies that violate the rules face hefty fines. Companies that violate the GDPR law can be fined up to 4% of their annual global revenue or 20 million euros ($21.7 million), whichever is higher.
“It’s not clear whether the public is thinking about these impacts.” [AI] applications,” Ikhlaq Sidhu, dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at IE University, told CNBC.
According to the report, the level of support for the use of AI in public service tasks such as transportation optimization was even higher at 79%.
However, when it comes to sensitive issues such as parole decisions, most Europeans (64%) oppose the use of AI.
Election manipulation by AI
Despite support for AI in public administration and security matters, people seem to be far more concerned about its role in the democratization process.
According to an IE University report, the majority of Europeans (67%) fear AI manipulation in elections.
AI can be used as a means to amplify misinformation, and some users intentionally use misinformation to try to overturn the opinions of others. The main concern is that so-called deepfakes, synthetic images, videos or audio clips created using AI, could be used to misrepresent the views of politicians or spread other types of misinformation. There is a possibility that
Generative AI platforms such as OpenAI’s Dall-E and Stability AI’s Midjourney allow you to create images with just a few lines of text prompts, for example. CNBC has reached out to OpenAI and Stability for comment.
“AI and deepfakes are the latest example of a trend of misinformation and loss of verifiability,” Sidhu told CNBC. “This trend has been increasing since the advent of the internet, social media, and AI-driven search algorithms.”
In fact, the report states that around 31% of Europeans believe that AI is already influencing their voting decisions. This comes as the 2024 US elections are just around the corner, with current Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump competing on the November 5th ballot.
generation gap
The IE University report also revealed a generational gap in AI in Europe.
Almost a third (34%) of people aged 18 to 34 would trust an AI-powered app to vote for politicians on their behalf. This number drops to 29% for people aged 35 to 44 and just 9% for those 65 and older.
