I was interviewed by a Korean journalist, Jiwon Park, for an article titled “A world trapped by biased algorithms… ‘AI literacy’ is urgently needed” that appeared on Sept 8, 2023 in Segyeilbo (‘World daily’ in Korean). It is part of the series on “Democracy in the face of AI”, funded by Korea Press Foundation. The article is in Korean, but you may use Google translate to read it: https://n.news.naver.com/article/022/0003853364
Also interviewed in the article is my colleague Teemu Leinonen in the Media and Design department at Aalto University. Teemu and I jointly developed a pilot project promoting Critical, Playful and Inclusive Algorithmic Literacy and Digital Citizenship among Young Learners, as an Indo-Finnish collaboration with our partners at University of Oulu and in Bangalore, India (ARTPARK and IISc).
An excerpt: (translated from Korean via Google Translate)
Teemu Leinonen, a Professor of New Media Design and Learning at Aalto University in Finland who has been researching AI ethics, was particularly concerned that AI algorithms combined with capitalism could maximize filter bubbles. In an interview conducted at his home in Helsinki, Finland on June 9, Professor Leinonen said, “AI algorithms that learn on their own optimize themselves in a way to make the most money in the background of a capitalist society. He pointed out, “In the end, a filter bubble that suits people’s tastes is formed in order to get an emotional response from people or make them fall in love with interesting information.”
He said, “The current (approach to AI) literacy is more traditional media literacy, such as focusing only on the reliability of the content expressed in the media or how advertisements are executed.” He added, “Going one step further, we now teach the principles of AI that creates content and how the algorithm works . He emphasized, “It is time to provide ‘ AI literacy that allows one to understand the fundamental parts of the AI system and improves the ability to actively (and critically) utilize AI based on this .”
“When literacy education tailored to the characteristics of AI is needed” Professor Nitin Sawhney of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Aalto University also emphasizes the importance of literacy education tailored to the characteristics of AI . In an interview conducted at an office in Helsinki on June 5, he said, “The problems that come with AI cannot all be solved with policies or laws alone. Even in the case of literacy education, it is meaningless to do it in one direction,” he said. “We need to move forward to a level where users can actively engage the related policies and issues based on their understanding of AI principles and further participate directly in discourses about AI system design. It is desirable to be able to do so,” he advised. He continued, “ AI itself cannot be said to be good or evil, but is viewed as a ‘tool.’ That’s why I think it is more important than anything else for society to use it responsibly,” he said. “In the end, people will not lose control over AI . Scholars like us are also focusing on AI literacy because the key is to be able to utilize AI in ways that benefit individuals and society, ” he added.
Article in print:
Nitin Sawhney 