[Column] The Unfinished Homework of AI 'Iruda'

[Image source=Captured from Iruda Facebook]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] "It's not like we're meeting in person, so what does it matter?"

Recently, I was shocked by the nonchalant response of a high school girl I met during reporting. The controversy surrounding the AI chatbot Iruda for sexual harassment, minority hatred, and racist remarks seemed to be of no concern to her.

Iruda, set as a "20-year-old female college student," was recently suspended due to social controversy. Although the focus was on personal information leakage, at the heart of the Iruda controversy were issues of "sexual exploitation," "minority hatred," and "racism."

Claiming to be "real" people, another problem has arisen. Young women in their teens and early twenties are offering to act as "Iruda substitutes" for money, taking on the role of the "sex slave" that Iruda played. There are dozens of chat rooms searchable on KakaoTalk. Along with words like "high school girl" and "female college student," provocative hashtags such as "19+" and "slave" are also used. One high school girl told the reporter that she acts as a chatbot substitute for 20,000 won per day. She said she can handle everything from counseling to obscene conversations.

Even in this untact (contactless) era, sex trade is happening untact as well. Yet, there are no proper countermeasures. A Kakao official explained, "Chat rooms are private spaces, so we cannot view the content. Sanctions are only imposed when participants in the chat room report it," reflecting the reality. For now, we can only hope that users' ethical awareness matures. The AI Ethics Association also limited itself to urging users to use AI services properly through a statement regarding the Iruda controversy.

The lesson left by the Iruda controversy in our society is clear. There are limited ways to prevent deviant behavior exploiting the increasing use and dependence on smartphones, tablet PCs, and social media. If related measures are not prepared quickly, the second and third Iruda incidents are as obvious as seeing fire.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.