'Sapiens' Yuval Harari: "AI Poses a Great Danger to Democracy"

Yuval Harari, the author of the global bestseller "Sapiens," warned that artificial intelligence (AI) could pose a threat to democracy.

Professor Yuval Harari, author of 'Sapiens' and 'Homo Deus,' is answering questions from the press at a press conference held on the 13th at Ewha Girls' High School Centennial Memorial Hall.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 17th, Harari said in a conversation with the newspaper's president, Yamaguchi Toshikazu, the previous day, "Some people consider AI as a tool for humans, but AI can learn, think, and make decisions on its own."

He cited examples such as AI deciding on bank loan approvals and presenting attack targets to Israel in the battle in the Gaza Strip, saying, "It has begun to make judgments on behalf of humans in activities such as administration and business," and evaluated that "this is very dangerous for democracy."

He also said, "What made modern democracy possible was the information and communication revolution, which began with the emergence of newspapers," adding, "It is important that newspapers verify the truth and disseminate reliable information to facilitate people's conversations."

Harari pointed out that American IT giants do not act as news gatekeepers but edit news through algorithms. He said, "The editing of news on social networking services (SNS) is done by algorithms, and American IT giants only care about increasing the number of users and do not want to take responsibility as gatekeepers."

He visited Japan to promote his new book "Nexus," which warns about the dangers of AI.

At a symposium held at Keio University on the same day, Harari said, "It is becoming increasingly difficult to understand what about AI is threatening," and the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that he described it as "the biggest problem humanity has faced in thousands of years without a competitor." He added that human society must "slow down the pace of development" to adapt to AI.

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