Generative AI, the future of Facebook & Quantum Computing with Sebastian Hallensleben

Today’s podcast with Sebastian Hallensleben includes topics on the impact of generative AI with tools like deep fake, the future of platforms like Facebook and the creation of new platforms for constructive discourse, quantum computing, using a piece of the sun for energy on earth, and lastly, how to fund foundational research. 

Sebastian Hellensleben is the head of digitalization and AI at VDE, and works on concepts and infrastructures for trust in the digital space. 

Impact of generative AI - tools such as deep fakes - in the digital space. We haven’t yet understood it properly.

 Generative AI tools:

- being able to create profiles of people that don’t exist

- creating media for people that don’t exist

- virtual influencers that can have followers

The contest of quantity between product promoters is who has more bots. How can we trust ratings? 

Democratic discourse: if we lose the digital space as a platform for discourse to bots, it’ll have a major impact on the ability of democratic systems to function.

How to regulate this?

Regulation is never going to turn platforms like Facebook into a forum for constructive discourse. And that’s something we really have to understand.

So we have to look elsewhere and we need to create new kinds of platforms where constructive discourse can happen.

You need to create different incentive mechanisms. Like to convince another person of your position, or to gather reputation if you're able to build consensus between groups of 20 or 30 other users.

Where are platforms like Facebook heading? 

It is frightening that the owners of these platforms either haven't asked the question or there is no answer, to how these platforms can evolve in a more sustainable way. 

What technology are you excited about now?

Quantum computing - because it’ll be more disruptive - it is certainly a very fascinating technology. It's hard to say are we 5 years or 50 away from breakthroughs. It shares that with much older technology like nuclear fusion. But the mere notion of being able to have a piece of the sun on earth and use it to create energy.

Who should be funding all this?

Foundational research will never be funded by commercial investment. Because rewards are 20, 30 or 40 years away and it might not be clear what these rewards are. It's important governments support foundational research. It would be wise to have budgets to do research and just see where it takes us. 

How do we get countries that spend less than 3% of their GDP on research and innovation to spend more?

We need to link foundational research to certain megatrends:  aging population, finite natural recourses, the need to keep this planet liveable, and also from a perspective of how to keep people living together peacefully. Building resilient democracies for stable economies.

American versus European approach to spurring innovation. 

Fresh thinking on what the European Union actually is
 
Triggered by Brexit and Putin’s war and Trump, but nevertheless triggered. What is the goal and if the facets of that goal are still remnant? And a fresh perspective on the internal structures. Is it an economic union? Yes, to what

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Transcript

Generative AI, the future of Facebook & Quantum Computing with Sebastian Hallensleben

Welcome to the Last Week on Earth with the Global Arena Research Institute with your host Odessa Primus. Today’s podcast with Sebastian Hallensleben includes topics on the impact of generative AI with tools like deep fake, the future of platforms like Facebook and the creation of new platforms for constructive discourse, quantum computing, using a piece of the sun for energy on earth, and lastly, how to fund foundational research. 

Sebastian Hellensleben is the head of digitalization and AI at VDE, and works on concepts and infrastructures for trust in the digital space. 

Impact of generative AI - tools such as deep fakes - in the digital space. We haven’t yet understood it properly.

 Generative AI tools:

- being able to create profiles of people that don’t exist

- creating media for people that don’t exist

- virtual influencers that can have followers

The contest of quantity between product promoters is who has more bots. How can we trust ratings? 

Democratic discourse

If we lose the digital space as a platform for discourse to bots, it’ll have a major impact on the ability of democratic systems to function.

How to regulate this?

Regulation is never going to turn platforms like Facebook into a forum for constructive discourse. And that’s something we really have to understand. A platform like Facebook is designed to maximise engagement and clicks. And unfortunately, the way we humans are constructed is that we click on things that we find annoying that we are emotional about, is extreme and polarising. They have a tendency to promote polarisation, but they have no mechanisms to go in the opposite direction. It's impossible to regulate Facebook in the other direction, it's not designed that way. 

So we have to look elsewhere and we need to create new kinds of platforms where constructive discourse can happen.

These platforms need to be bot free - at least 99% and they have to protect the privacy of users and ensure one person can only have one profile for an account. you have to be able to understand pseudonymous identities. And there needs to be a standard for ID cards not only able to prove your real name but also able to generate a pseudonym token so your real name doesn't need to be revealed and the pseudonym cannot trace back to your real name. This technology exists. 

You need to create different incentive mechanisms. Like to convince another person of your position, or to gather reputation if you're able to build consensus between groups of 20 or 30 other users.  You also need a way that the insights and consensus that have been built can have an impact in the conventional critical domains. Into parliaments, national or European. Look at it as the next step from long established petition systems. Rather than someone making a claim and collecting signatures - you’re developing a consensus together.

These platforms need to be created not just by people that think this is a good idea, but by people that have certain convening power. By members of parliament, or other celebrities. Such platforms do not need to grow as big as Facebook. Other use cases are public consultations. 

Where are platforms like Facebook heading? 

It is frightening that the owners of these platforms either haven't asked the question or there is no answer, to how these platforms can evolve in a more sustainable way. We’ve seen large platforms like Yahoo more or less disappear. I don't think Facebook will disappear or become irrelevant. There will be always a demand for excitable and polarising discourse like Facebook, or to broadcast this to the world. but I think that they’ll become less essential of a feature in people’s minds. Less of an essential platform for organisations. That will slowly disappear. Both because Facebook has become so toxic and there are many other platforms. 

What technology are you excited about now?

Quantum computing - because it’ll be more disruptive - it is certainly a very fascinating technology. It's hard to say are we 5 years or 50 away from breakthroughs. It shares that with much older technology like nuclear fusion. But the mere notion of being able to have a piece of the sun on earth and use it to create energy.

We simply have no way of storing nuclear waste for hundreds of years and not enough money is being thrown at it.

The mere concept of replicating what the sun is doing is deeply fascinating.

Who should be funding all this?

Foundational research will never be funded by commercial investment. Because rewards are 20, 30 or 40 years away and it might not be clear what these rewards are. Its important governments support foundational research. Not just pouring money into big labs, also pouring money into people. It’s become unsexy to pour money into raw sciences. 

It would be wise to have budgets to do research and just see where it takes us. 

How do we get countries that spend less than 3% of their GDP on research and innovation to spend more?

We need to link foundational research to certain megatrends: Aging population, finite natural recourses, the need to keep this planet livable, and also from a perspective of how to keep people living together peacefully. Building resilient democracies for stable economies. Also issues around sovereignty, also technological and digital sovereignty. That sense of being a competition between major regions of the world is a fine line - it also leads to mobilizing budgets. Europe needs to invest more in training engineers, not because it needs more engineers but because look at China, and other countries. What if Trump comes into power again and Europe will have to stand on its own feet. 

American versus European approach to spurring innovation. 

Also…

Fresh thinking on what the European Union actually is. Triggered by Brexit and Putin’s war and Trump, but nevertheless triggered. What is the goal and if the facets of that goal are still remnant? And a fresh perspective on the internal structures. Is it an economic union? Yes, to what extent is it a political union? Does it have its own foreign policy? How do you balance the aspects that are handled at the European level and national sovereignty? Those debates are being reopened.