VR AI artificial Intelligence
AI (Artificial intelligence) is often spoken of as if it exists in a vacuum, a neutral technological force accelerating human advancement, automating the mundane, and optimising everything from healthcare to grocery shopping. But AI, like any technology, does not exist outside the systems that govern us. It is shaped by human intentions, trained on human data, and deployed by institutions that reflect human biases. These biases often revolve around power, profit, and control. When we talk about AI, we are not discussing a marvel of code. We are discussing who gets to wield it and who is left at its mercy.
Unethical use of AI is not a rare malfunction. It is often the norm. Consider predictive policing tools that disproportionately target marginalised communities or facial recognition systems that misidentify Black and Brown faces with disturbing frequency. These technologies do not become biased by accident. They inherit and then amplify the injustices embedded in their training data and design. The algorithms themselves are not inherently racist. The people who create them, the data they are fed, and the institutions that deploy them carry the responsibility.
The corporate side of AI brings its own set of ethical failures. Generative AI tools are now used to produce vast quantities of synthetic content without compensating or even acknowledging the original creators whose work trained the models. Art, writing, photography,all scraped from the internet and repackaged as “innovation.” Behind terms like “training data” or “open-source contribution” lies a much simpler reality. This is exploitation of creative labour on an industrial scale. And in this new digital economy, originality becomes optional, while those with the most computing power set the rules.
Surveillance is another frontier where AI’s ethical failures are increasingly visible. Governments and corporations are using AI to monitor citizens, predict behaviour, and score individuals for everything from social trust to insurance eligibility. These systems are often rolled out without transparency or consent. People are told this is about national security, or efficiency, or personalised service. In truth, it is about establishing control in ways that are harder to question and even harder to resist.
Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of AI’s unethical use is the illusion that the technology is neutral. Many still believe AI simply reflects the world as it is. But that is not how power works. AI does not just mirror society; it can harden its worst tendencies into infrastructure. And unlike a human decision, an algorithmic one is harder to trace, harder to challenge, and far more likely to be accepted as objective truth.
We are not passive spectators in this technological shift. AI is being built and deployed according to the values of those in charge. Right now, those values prioritise profit, speed, and dominance. Unless ethical concerns are placed at the very centre of AI development, we are not looking at progress. We are looking at injustice — automated and scaled.
By: Lakshita Leekha
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