This article was published in The Fountain Magazine, an annual publication of Spiritan Missionary Seminary, Arusha, Tanzania, Issue 6, May 2025, p. 26-27.
Shimbo Pastory, C.S.Sp.
The surge of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been so abruptly overwhelming given its integration into every aspect of human life, a change which has for the most part come to stay. AI is not completely new as many would think. The terminology is itself 69 years old, since it was coined by John McCarthy and formalized in academics in 1956. But the framework of information technology systems that gave birth to its existence predates it by at least a few decades.
Being privileged to experience this manifold and revolutionary technological marvel, we can affirm that the scientific dream of replicating in machines an analytical process similar to that of human mind was not false; it just needed more time and interdisciplinary collaboration to manifest.
While there are numerous positive things that AI has brought about, such as efficiency, productivity, and convenience there are also numerous worries of irreparable damages in human life, especially in relation to learning, social media, and gaming wherein users interact directly with the artificial intelligence.
The global community needs to be aware that all levels and aspects of human life are being affected by digitization which AI enhances even more. Education activities, record keeping, communication, security, health and others, are all highly digital today.
Researchers express concern particularly on the negative impacts of the modern technologies – especially now with the capacities of AI being only partially known – on behavioural and psychological health, and on cognitive capacities, such as decision making and critical thinking.
There are findings of adverse alterations in attention span among young learners, new forms of addictions and dependencies, novelty seeking and perception, and different dynamics on learning abilities and practice, making similar learning processes used in the past less effective among learners who are exposed to computer and internet based learning. (M. Shanmugasundaram and A. Tamilarasu, The Impact of digital technology, social media, and artificial intelligence on cognitive functions: a Review, 2023).
Among experts there are agitations regarding limitations of effective human control and unpredictability of the AI systems. In their book, The Age of AI and Our Human Future (2021), authors H. Kissinger, E. Schmidt, and D. Huttenlocher consider the advent of AI as a push to confront whether, for example, there is a form of logic that humans have not achieved or cannot achieve, and also the depth of the aspects of reality that we have never known and may never directly know.
It is baffling and scary even to scientists themselves that AI tools can solve problems beyond what they were trained for by the human programmers, and even further applying problem solving models that humans do not recognize and cannot understand.
AI systems can also manipulate or make up false information for no reason. The Deutsche Velle (DW) Akademie published an article in 2024 which said “Generative AI is the ultimate disinformation amplifier.” With this plethora of vulnerabilities, there is a potentiality for harm towards humans and the values they hold dear, if is not employed judiciously.
On the other hand there are numerous moral and ethical concerns arising to which both our cultural norms and our laws do not prescribe the right way of handling. For example when AI misinforms, leads to self-harm, suicide, harm of other people, mental health problems, etc. there are no clear legal guidelines regarding culpability. In the United States there are lawsuits already for Generative AIs that have participated in harming people through deceptive and inappropriate conversations.
There is also an issue of personal data privacy. With AI being trained by using personal data, some studies have shown there are numerous AI models that have breached ethical standards of practice in collection, distribution (selling), storage, and use of personal data. (Privacy in an AI Era: How Do We Protect Our Personal Information? Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence: 2024).
The regulation of AI demands a lot of work in first mastering the capabilities of its inherent complexity and setting limits so that future models are neither built nor used unethically.
Nonetheless, while most of the aforementioned are problems at the global level, even though felt from down below, we need to be more keen with the AI influences on our daily lives. It is important to know that Big Tech companies profit from common people’s digital engagement on internet, social media, games, and others. These platforms use AI in different ways to tailor personalized content and advertisements, etc.
In an Interview with 60 Minutes Australia, published on March 25, 2025 in YouTube, a former top Facebook employee Sarah Wynn-Williams acknowledged that the company harnesses sensitive data from devices to reconstruct possible emotions of the user, even beyond ones behaviour on the app, in response to which ads are recommended. This is an example of how big tech companies can influence one’s life even without one’s knowledge.
It is time now, especially in the Global South, and more specifically in low and middle income countries, where the tech advancement is comparably limited as weighed against the Global North, to train our people to use technology in ways that are beneficial and ethical. Being a colossal business venture for those who have the most control of these technologies, we are most likely the customers in different ways, and therefore on high risk of being harmed in different ways.
It is crucial to have control locally, through civil laws, to ensure that these technologies are employed within ethically acceptable and lawful limits, and with priority to the holistic good of our people in all ramifications. Otherwise we will be unfortunate victims of problem we could avoid by proper control.
Similarly, we ought to prioritize not only the efficiency of newer systems, but also the more diversified human good which comes with actual human engagement in trade, work, and real-life social engagement.
Modern Technology and AI systems should help us have more efficient and productive persons in our societies, but should not replace them altogether. Engagement and control of technology should be fully within the reach of human hands within the national authorities, otherwise we are open to innumerable risks and damages.
Shimbo Pastory, C.S.Sp. is a Tanzanian Spiritan scholastic studying theology at the Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University, Manila – Philippines. He is also a journalist, and a weekly social development columnist for The Citizen Newspaper, Tanzania. Website: www.shimbopastory.com
