How AI can save civil society from hate speech

Information is power. It should be obvious, therefore, that in an ‘Information Age’, in which anyone can spread truth and lies at the touch of a button to an entire nation, society’s power structures will continue to change rapidly for some time to come.

The last great Information Age was the invention of the printing press and Europe was subsequently convulsed by religious wars. New ideological clashes proved so fraught on paper that many decided violence was the only answer. That said, the printing press was a great step forward in human history, without which the modern world would not exist. Ultimately, an Information Age is a profoundly good thing, but civic society needs to be alive to the dangers.

As police continue to come under attack by far-right thugs following the Southport riots, sparked partly by false rumours and, seemingly, Russian misinformation online, those dangers are clear and present. Unfortunately, democratic governments have been painfully slow to respond to the consequences of digital technology, while the far-right has harnessed its potential, aided and abetted by social media companies.

Some tech gurus have advanced the argument that social media should be entirely free from laws designed to protect us from hate speech, incitement to violence and other crimes. Anyway, they argue, the numbers of people on their sites mean it’s not really possible to police. Some efforts are made, but still social media algorithms have clearly promoted dangerous content, like sites that encourage children to self-harm or kill themselves.

The vast profits made by these companies have been extracted at society’s great expense. It is past time to ensure their platforms are subject to the rule of law, as we all are in the real world. And there is a way to do it: by harnessing the extraordinary power of artificial intelligence. AI has its dangers too, and human oversight is necessary, but deploying online ‘robot sheriffs’ is the only way to ensure laws developed to keep citizens and society safe apply equally to this digital Wild West, where violent rhetoric and disinformation is driving real-world conflicts that are only likely to get worse.