{"id":276304,"date":"2025-11-11T12:29:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T12:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/276304\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T12:29:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T12:29:19","slug":"i-watched-frankenstein-and-im-worried-were-turning-ai-into-a-monster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/276304\/","title":{"rendered":"I watched Frankenstein, and I\u2019m worried we\u2019re turning AI into a monster"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI is slowly becoming a monster that we might not be able to control. Like the hideous creature unleashed by Dr. Frankenstein in the new Netflix movie by Guillermo del Toro<\/a>, we don\u2019t have a good handle on what we\u2019ve created or what kind of power it can wield.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example of how this all works to help illustrate the point:<\/p>\n

A humanoid robot<\/a> named Iron walks out onto a well-lit stage<\/a>. The bot has a slight swagger, like a model strutting on a catwalk. As this Frankenoid monster prances around, the CEO of the robotics firm Xpeng \u2014 which is known more for making electric cars in China than robots \u2014 explains how the Iron\u2019s gesticulating hand is endowed with 22 degrees of movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dressed in a skin-tight white jumpsuit and wearing trendy athletic shoes, the robot seems strangely human \u2014 like Frankenstein\u2019s monster brought to life.<\/p>\n

After the demo, social media users \u2014 the modern equivalent of people carrying pitchforks in the town square and building a funeral pyre \u2014 were quick to pounce<\/a>. \u201cI think we\u2019ve seen this stunt before,\u201d said one commenter. Another explained how the bot is obviously a real person; a takedown video even explained how the Iron bot has a spine and a bra strap. \u201cTesla\u2019s robot can\u2019t walk this smoothly \u2014 there\u2019s no way this is possible,\u201d said one user.<\/p>\n

Later, the CEO released a follow-up video showing technicians cutting off part of the jumpsuit to reveal what is obviously the robot\u2019s leg<\/a> \u2014 e.g., an actuator and metal bone. You can almost hear gasps from the crowd. Like a modern equivalent of Prometheus, artificial intelligence \u2014 seemingly handed down from on high \u2014 has become a monster\u2026and we\u2019re the townspeople.<\/p>\n

The movie Frankenstein is a timely reminder about the dangers of modern science (and technology) advancing too quickly. The original novel of the same name by Mary Shelley, released in 1816, was prescient in a way that the author could have never predicted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As I watched the movie, I couldn\u2019t help but think how artificial intelligence is also a monster of innovation, that we\u2019re creating tools and content that we don\u2019t fully understand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Worse yet, the AI images and videos that are constantly proliferating on social media and online are almost indistinguishable from the content that real people have meticulously labored over using apps like Adobe Photoshop. Known as AI slop<\/a>, this generative content has invaded every corner of the web and will be impossible to wipe clean. Most of the content is poorly labeled as AI and there are few restrictions on how the content can be used or how to protect real content creators. We\u2019ve already created the monster; now we have to figure out how to control it.<\/p>\n

Setting guidelines for our AI creations<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

\t\tXicoia<\/p>\n

AI has outpaced the ability to introduce guardrails. Here\u2019s another glaring example.<\/p>\n

Tilly Norwood (shown above) is an AI actress that looks indistinguishable from a real person, at least at first glance<\/a>, and is a good example of how AI has advanced too quickly. The company behind Tilly has noted how they are looking for an agent for the AI actress without sharing too many details<\/a>. The industry went a little ballistic, suggesting that we\u2019re not prepared for a world where an AI actress stars in a movie \u2014 how something without a soul or a heartbeat could collect a paycheck instead of a real person who has actual training and experience in the field.<\/p>\n

In the Frankenstein movie, there\u2019s an eerily similar scene where Dr. Frankenstein demonstrates how he can reanimate the arm, torso and brain of a deceased man. Does that mean the creation is now a real person? Does it have a soul? Those in the audience watching Dr. Frankenstein\u2019s demonstration ask those same questions, suggesting the abomination is premature and dangerous.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We should be asking the same questions about AI. The advancements are coming fast and furious, but we haven\u2019t set proper guidelines. We don\u2019t know what AI is capable of doing yet or what the future holds \u2014 e.g., how the innovations will change what it means to work and live in modern society.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, real content creators, knowledge workers, writers, artists, and filmmakers are the ones who will suffer \u2014 and they already are. Accenture recently eliminated 11,000 jobs, pinpointing roles that were not keeping up on AI as an ancillary tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Are we okay with that? Do we even know how AI technology will impact our own productivity and job performance? Those who are pro AI innovation \u2014 and I am one of them \u2014 tend to talk about a supporting role. With writing, an AI can help us fact-check and proofread, which are more mundane tasks. Yet, it\u2019s far too easy to let the AI do a complete rewrite \u2014 or even compose the original piece of writing from scratch. Today, other than using an AI detection app like GPTZero to find out if a human was involved, there are no guardrails or guidelines.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to set guardrails now before the abominations of AI become too powerful and ubiquitous. AI slop is hurting content creation; chatbots can hallucinate and dole out incorrect information; humanoid bots can do household chores but seem eerily sentient already.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like anything new and innovative, there is an illusion that AI can change how we work and even entertain us in ways we\u2019ve never imagined. Many of the AI tools we use now are practical and helpful, but we\u2019re far from understanding the ramifications for our mental health, how to pivot to make sure people still have gainful employment, or how to address ethical issues.<\/p>\n

Should humanoids have rights and privileges?<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\t\tNetflix \/ Netflix<\/p>\n

Another important topic to consider, one that Frankenstein also brings to light, is whether the new creations should have rights and privileges, similar to humans.<\/p>\n

I mentioned the technicians cutting open the Iron humanoid\u2019s leg because, in some ways, it was another example of not having guardrails. While it was helpful to see behind the veil, it wasn\u2019t immediately obvious whether the Iron humanoid was an actual robot or a human. It\u2019s becoming more and more obvious that humans won\u2019t be able to tell the difference soon.<\/p>\n

For example, when Tesla demonstrated recently how the Optimus robot can perform mundane tasks<\/a>, it wasn\u2019t obvious that there was a human operator involved. The bots seemed highly capable, but it was only later revealed that they were not at all autonomous.<\/p>\n

Another issue Frankenstein explores is the notion of true evil. Slight spoiler alert here: By the end of the film, you will start questioning whether it\u2019s the creator or the creature that is the true monster. We need to ask similar questions about AI, especially in relation to mental health. People are constantly talking to chatbots about personal issues, yet there is very little exposure to those interchanges or any guidelines about the advice given. When an AI misleads someone and they harm themselves, should we blame the AI bot itself or the AI bot creator?<\/p>\n

ChatGPT<\/a>, for example, is a large language model. It parses meaning and intent from the user based on a database of possible outputs. Behind the curtain, there are real human engineers assembling the code that makes ChatGPT possible. Do we know if those engineers can be trusted? How much access do we have to their process to tell if it\u2019s legitimate?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just a matter of time before someone buys one of these expensive humanoids and does something terrible to one of them, probably as a publicity stunt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the end, as we see new AI innovations on a daily basis, we need to catch up to the technology as quickly as possible \u2014 Frankenstein has already been unleashed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AI is slowly becoming a monster that we might not be able to control. Like the hideous creature…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276305,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,276,277,49,48,5244,2140,285,61],"class_list":["post-276304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chatbots","tag-chatgpt","tag-computing","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}