AI ‘police’ could identify predators and abusers online

A DIGITAL watchdogs using artificial intelligence (AI) could help keep children safe online, according to a recent study.

'Responsible' AI can help stop children from seeing harmful content online, and catch predators in the process.

New research from the University of Warwick, UK, has found that AI could be used for more than just coding or curating meal plans, like the popular ChatGPT.

The sheer amount of content that is found on social media platforms alone is impossible for a human to trawl through completely and catalogue.

But an AI moderator or 'police bot' can sift through vast quantities of language and images.

It is able to make ‘dictionaries’ of insights around each of the most harmful areas that threaten children and young people.

This includes content containing hate speech, cyber bullying, information on suicide, eating disorders and child violence and sexual abuse.

“If regulators understood what is possible – ‘intelligent’ technology that reads between the lines and sifts benign communication from the sinister – they could demand its presence in the laws they’re seeking to pass," said Shweta Singh, professor at Warwick Business School and one of the authors of the research.

“So far, lawmakers have largely allowed social media platforms to mark their own homework – prompting outrage from both carers of vulnerable youngsters and defenders of free speech.

“Legislators need a better understanding of the technology they are seeking to govern."

Researchers found that an AI system that uses natural language processing algorithms, like ChatGPT, but is programmed to better understand slang and internet speak, can pick up on things like humans.

The AI can then understand the context of certain comments, the nuances of speech and social ties between individuals, which also factors in their age.

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