ChatGPT: More Than a “Weapon of Mass Deception” Ethical Challenges and Responses from the Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HCAI) Perspective

Abstract

This article explores the ethical problems arising from the use of ChatGPT as a kind of generative AI and suggests responses based on the Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HCAI) framework. The HCAI framework is appropriate because it understands technology above all as a tool to empower, augment, and enhance human agency while referring to human wellbeing as a “grand challenge,” thus perfectly aligning itself with ethics, the science of human flourishing. Further, HCAI provides objectives, principles, procedures, and structures for reliable, safe, and trustworthy AI which we apply to our ChatGPT assessments. The main danger ChatGPT presents is the propensity to be used as a “weapon of mass deception” (WMD) and an enabler of criminal activities involving deceit. We review technical specifications to better comprehend its potentials and limitations. We then suggest both technical (watermarking, styleme, detectors, and fact-checkers) and non-technical measures (terms of use, transparency, educator considerations, HITL) to mitigate ChatGPT misuse or abuse and recommend best uses (creative writing, non-creative writing, teaching and learning). We conclude with considerations regarding the role of hu mans in ensuring the proper use of ChatGPT for individual and social wellbeing.

Keywords:

• ChatGPT
• generative AI
• HCAI
• combating disinformation
• AI ethics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Hugging Face, the open-source AI community released RoBERTa Base Open AI detector for texts created by GPT-2, an earlier version of ChatGPT in November 2022.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alejo José G. Sison

Alejo José G. Sison teaches Business Ethics at the University of Navarre. He served as President of the European Business Ethics Network and the Society for Business Ethics. He works mainly from the perspective of the virtues and the common good. He currently focuses on AI issues in business.

Marco Tulio Daza

Marco Tulio Daza is a Professor at the University Center for Economic and Administrative Sciences (CUCEA) of the University of Guadalajara (Mexico) and an associate member of the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Institute (DATAI) at the University of Navarra (Spain). He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Economics and Business. His research focuses on AI Ethics in business and the effects of technology on democracy and economic growth.

Roberto Gozalo-Brizuela

Roberto Gozalo-Brizuela, a double-degree student in Business Administration and Business Analytics, resides in Madrid. He is a Research Assistant at Universidad Pontificia Comillas, actively exploring the transformative potential of AI applications across diverse industries, driven by his profound interest in the Generative AI industry.

Eduardo C. Garrido-Merchán

Eduardo C. Garrido Merchán studied computer engineering at Universidad Pontificia Comillas. Master in AI and Doctor Cum Laude from the UAM. He researches Deep Reinforcement Learning, Bayesian Optimization, Philosophy of Mind, and AI. He teaches Machine Learning, Statistics and Econometrics at Universidad Pontificia Comillas.