Artificial intelligence refers to a computer system that is able to learn from experiences and perform tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence (Copeland, 2019). In our everyday lives we see this used in self driving cars, virtual assistants such as Siri, Alexa and Cortana, but, perhaps the most relevant is in the way subscription services such as Netflix, YouTube and iTunes offer suggestions for users based on their previous use of the platform. These services detect which files the user has accessed or rated in the past and supplies other files with similar or related content or format. This can be quite helpful if we are looking for the same sorts of information as we have previously accessed – more of the same. However, it does tend to make it more difficult to access files of a different sort that those we have enjoyed previously. Using the suggestions of the algorithm can make finding some types of information easier and quicker. However it also makes access to other types of information more difficult. Popular search engines can and do use a similar algorithm to limit the sorts of results it displays in an internet search. This means that users need to ask the right questions to access information that might be available more freely to users who seek that information more frequently. It is not inconceivable that an entity that wished to disguise or obfuscate particular information would be able to influence AI algorithms to make it unlikely that a user would be able to access that information, and instead point the user towards more favourable information.

References

Copeland, B. J. (2019). Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/technology/artificial-intelligence.