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Nobel laureate Ressa urges immediate limits on artificial intelligence
Maria Ressa says artificial intelligence could make people lose control over their choices.
She believes social media already captures attention and divides societies.
She says chatbots can affect how people feel and connect with others.
Newer AI systems may be able to act for people instead of only responding to them.
Ressa wants governments to create rules before these systems become harder to control.
She says regulating AI is about keeping people safe, not stopping free speech.
She also wants technology companies to be responsible for harm they cause.
Ressa believes addictive features should be removed for adults as well as children.
She supports safer online communities that are not controlled by large technology companies.
Maria Ressa says governments must regulate AI now to prevent humanity from losing agency.
Ressa describes three AI waves: attention capture, biological manipulation through chatbots, and systems acting for people.
She calls AI regulation a public-safety issue rather than a freedom-of-speech issue.
Ressa urges accountability for technology companies and removal of addictive features for users of all ages.
She supports public-interest digital platforms such as Rappler Communities, built on the open-source Matrix protocol.
- Who
- Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, journalist, and co-founder and CEO of Rappler.
- What
- Ressa called for immediate AI regulation, corporate accountability, and safer digital communication platforms.
- Where
- Oslo, where she spoke at a conference on threats against democracies.
- When
- September 15, during Ressa’s visit to Oslo.
- Why
- She says AI and social media can manipulate attention, intimacy, and decision-making, potentially taking away human agency.
Regulate AI now
Delay or limit regulation
Timing of regulation
Regulate AI now
Ressa says legislation is needed immediately because AI could become beyond human control and reduce people’s agency.
Delay or limit regulation
Critics including U.S. President Donald Trump have rejected industry calls to regulate AI, citing concerns about losing the AI race to China.
Responsibility for harm
Regulate AI now
Ressa says technology companies should be held responsible for damage caused by their products and that addictive features should be removed for everyone.
Delay or limit regulation
The article reports industry and political concerns about regulation but does not specify particular safeguards proposed by opponents.
Digital platforms
Regulate AI now
Ressa supports public-interest, open-source and decentralised communication platforms outside Big Tech’s control, such as Rappler Communities.
Delay or limit regulation
The article presents no specific opposing proposal for replacing or changing Big Tech platforms.
Key facts
- Speaker
- Maria Ressa, co-founder and CEO of Rappler and co-chair of the United Nations’ international scientific panel on artificial intelligence.
- Nobel award
- Ressa jointly won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
- Three AI waves
- Ressa identified attention capture through social media, biological manipulation through chatbots, and agency through agentic and multi-agentic AI.
- Regulation argument
- Ressa described AI regulation as a public-safety issue rather than a freedom-of-speech issue.
- Corporate accountability
- She welcomed U.S. lawsuits involving Meta Platforms that could require the company to pay up to $18 billion over the next decade and restrict how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram.
- Age limits
- Ressa welcomed measures by the European Union and countries led by Australia to impose age limits on social media, but said they do not address addictive features affecting adults.
- Alternative platform
- Rappler Communities launched in 2023 using the open-source, secure, decentralised Matrix protocol.
Quotes
Maria Ressa
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and co-founder and CEO of Rappler
“I think we’re at that phase where if this doesn’t happen, we will tip … (It) will be beyond our control if we don’t step in now.”
theprint.in
“We know this is harmful, so you should remove the addictive features, not just for teenagers, but for all of us.”
theprint.in
Sources
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