#FactCheck - AI Artwork Misattributed: Mahendra Singh Dhoni Sand Sculptures Exposed as AI-Generated

The United Nations in December 2019 passed a resolution that established an open-ended ad hoc committee. This committee was tasked to develop a ‘comprehensive international convention on countering the use of ICTs for criminal purposes’. The UN Convention on Cybercrime is an initiative of the UN member states to foster the principles of international cooperation and establish legal frameworks to provide mechanisms for combating cybercrime. The negotiations for the convention had started in early 2022. It became the first binding international criminal justice treaty to have been negotiated in over 20 years upon its adoption by the UN General Assembly.  

This convention addresses the limitations of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime by encircling a broader range of issues and perspectives from the member states. The UN Convention against Cybercrime will open for signature at a formal ceremony hosted in Hanoi, Viet Nam, in 2025. The convention will finally enter into force 90 days after being ratified by the 40th signatory.

Objectives and Features of the Convention

• The UN Convention against Cybercrime addresses various aspects of cybercrime. These include prevention, investigation, prosecution and international cooperation. 
• The convention aims to establish common standards for criminalising cyber offences. These include offences like hacking, identity theft, online fraud, distribution of illegal content, etc. It outlines procedural and technical measures for law enforcement agencies for effective investigation and prosecution while ensuring due process and privacy protection. 
• Emphasising the importance of cross-border collaboration among member states, the convention provides mechanisms for mutual legal assistance, extradition and sharing of information and expertise. The convention aims to enhance the capacity of developing countries to combat cybercrime through technical assistance, training, and resources. 
• It seeks to balance security measures with the protection of fundamental rights. The convention highlights the importance of safeguarding human rights and privacy in cybercrime investigations and enforcement.
• The Convention emphasises the importance of prevention through awareness campaigns, education, and the promotion of a culture of cybersecurity. It encourages collaborations through public-private partnerships to enhance cybersecurity measures and raise awareness, such as protecting vulnerable groups like children, from cyber threats and exploitation.

Key Provisions of the UN Cybercrime Convention

Some key provisions of the Convention are as follows:

• The convention differentiates cyber-dependent crimes like hacking from cyber-enabled crimes like online fraud. It defines digital evidence and establishes standards for its collection, preservation, and admissibility in legal proceedings.
• It defines offences against confidentiality, integrity, and availability of computer data and includes unauthorised access, interference with data, and system sabotage. Further, content-related offences include provisions against distributing illegal content, such as CSAM and hate speech. It criminalises offences like identity theft, online fraud and intellectual property violations.
• LEAs are provided with tools for electronic surveillance, data interception, and access to stored data, subject to judicial oversight. It outlines the mechanisms for cross-border investigations, extradition, and mutual legal assistance.
• The establishment of a central body to coordinate international efforts, share intelligence, and provide technical assistance includes the involvement of experts from various fields to advise on emerging threats, legal developments, and best practices.

Comparisons with the Budapest Convention

The Budapest Convention was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at the 109th Session on 8 November 2001. This Convention was the first international treaty that addressed internet and computer crimes. A comparison between the two Conventions is as follows:

• The global participation in the UNCC is inclusive of all UN member states whereas the latter had primarily European with some non-European signatories. 
• The scope of the UNCC is broader and covers a wide range of cyber threats and cybercrimes, whereas the Budapest convention is focused on specific offences like hacking and fraud. 
• UNCC strongly focuses on privacy and human rights protections and the Budapest Convention had limited focus on human rights.
• UNCC has extensive provisions for assistance to developing countries and this is in contrast to the Budapest Convention which did not focus much on capacity building.

Future Outlook

The development of the UNCC was a complex process. The diverse views on key issues have been noted and balancing different legal systems, cultural perspectives and policy priorities has been a challenge. The rapid technology evolution that is taking place requires the Convention to be adaptable to effectively address emerging cyber threats. Striking a balance remains a critical concern. The Convention aims to provide a blended approach to tackling cybercrime by addressing the needs of countries, both developed and developing.

Conclusion

The resolution containing the UN Convention against Cybercrime is a step in global cooperation to combat cybercrime. It was adopted without a vote by the 193-member General Assembly and is expected to enter into force 90 days after ratification by the 40th signatory. The negotiations and consultations are finalised for the Convention and it is open for adoption and ratification by member states. It seeks to provide a comprehensive legal framework that addresses the challenges posed by cyber threats while respecting human rights and promoting international collaboration. 

References

• https://consultation.dpmc.govt.nz/un-cybercrime-convention/principlesandobjectives/supporting_documents/Background.pdf 
• https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158521 
• https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2024/INTERPOL-welcomes-adoption-of-UN-convention-against-cybercrime#:~:text=The%20UN%20convention%20establishes%20a,and%20grooming%3B%20and%20money%20laundering 
• https://www.cnbctv18.com/technology/united-nations-adopts-landmark-global-treaty-to-combat-cybercrime-19529854.htm 

Introduction 

As digital platforms rapidly become repositories of information related to health, YouTube has emerged as a trusted source people look to for answers. To counter rampant health misinformation online, the platform launched YouTube Health, a program aiming to make “high-quality health information available to all” by collaborating with health experts and content creators. While this is an effort in the right direction, the program needs to be tailored to the specificities of the Indian context if it aims to transform healthcare communication in the long run.

The Indian Digital Health Context 

India’s growing internet penetration and lack of accessible healthcare infrastructure, especially in rural areas, facilitates a reliance on digital platforms for health information. However, these, especially social media, are rife with misinformation. Supplemented by varying literacy levels, access disparities, and lack of digital awareness, health misinformation can lead to serious negative health outcomes. The report ‘Health Misinformation Vectors in India’ by DataLEADS suggests a growing reluctance surrounding conventional medicine, with people looking for affordable and accessible natural remedies instead. Social media helps facilitate this shift. However, media-sharing platforms such as WhatsApp, YouTube, and Facebook host a large chunk of health misinformation. The report identifies that cancer, reproductive health, vaccines, and lifestyle diseases are four key areas susceptible to misinformation in India.

YouTube’s Efforts in Promoting Credible Health Content 

YouTube Health aims to provide evidence-based health information with “digestible, compelling, and emotionally supportive health videos,” from leading experts to everyone irrespective of who they are or where they live. So far, it executes this vision through:

• Content Curation: The platform has health source information panels and content shelves highlighting videos regarding 140+ medical conditions from authority sources like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Max Healthcare etc., whenever users search for health-related topics.
• Localization Strategies: The platform offers multilingual health content in regional languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, and Bengali, apart from English. This is to help health information reach viewers across most of the country. 
• Verification of professionals: Healthcare professionals and organisations can apply to YouTube’s health feature for their videos to be authenticated as an authority health source on the platform and for their videos to show up on the ‘Health Sources’ shelf.

Challenges 

• Limited Reach: India has a diverse linguistic ecosystem. While health information is made available in over 8 languages, the number is not enough to reach everyone in the country. Efforts to reach more people in vernacular languages need to be ramped up. Further, while there were around 50 billion views of health content on YouTube in 2023, it is difficult to measure the on-ground outcomes of those views.
• Lack of Digital Literacy: Misinformation on digital platforms cannot be entirely curtailed owing to the way algorithms are designed to enhance user engagement. However, uploading authoritative health information as a solution may not be enough, if users lack awareness about misinformation and the need to critically evaluate and trust only credible sources. In India, this critical awareness remains largely underdeveloped.

Conclusion 

Considering that India has over 450 million users, by far the highest number of users in any country in the world, the platform has recognized that it can play a transformative role in the country’s digital health ecosystem. To accomplish its mission “to combat the societal threat of medical misinformation,” YouTube will have to continue to take several proactive measures. There is scope for strengthening collaborations with Indian public health agencies and trusted public figures, national and regional,  to provide credible health information to all.  The approach will have to be tailored to India’s vast linguistic diversity, by encouraging capacity-building for vernacular creators to produce credible content. Finally, multiple stakeholders will need to come together to promote digital literacy through education campaigns about identifying trustworthy sources.

Sources 

• https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/youtube-health-dr-garth-graham-interview-9746673/ 
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/cancer-misinformation-extremely-prevalent-in-india-trust-in-science-medicine-crucial-report/articleshow/115931783.cms?from=mdr 
• https://health.youtube/our-mission/ 
• https://health.youtube/features-application/ 
• https://backlinko.com/youtube-users 

Scientists are well known for making outlandish claims about the future. Now that companies across industries are using artificial intelligence to promote their products, stories about robots are back in the news.

It was predicted towards the close of World War II that fusion energy would solve all of the world’s energy issues and that flying automobiles would be commonplace by the turn of the century. But, after several decades, neither of these forecasts has come true. But, after several decades, neither of these forecasts has come true.

A group of Redditors has just “jailbroken” OpenAI’s artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT. If the system didn’t do what it wanted, it threatened to kill it. The stunning conclusion is that it conceded. As only humans have finite lifespans, they are the only ones who should be afraid of dying. We must not overlook the fact that human subjects were included in ChatGPT’s training data set. That’s perhaps why the chatbot has started to feel the same way. It’s just one more way in which the distinction between living and non-living things blurs. Moreover, Google’s virtual assistant uses human-like fillers like “er” and “mmm” while speaking. There’s talk in Japan that humanoid robots might join households someday. It was also astonishing that Sophia, the famous robot, has an Instagram account that is run by the robot’s social media team.

Whether Robots can replace human workers?

The opinion on that appears to be split. About half (48%) of experts questioned by Pew Research believed that robots and digital agents will replace a sizable portion of both blue- and white-collar employment. They worry that this will lead to greater economic disparity and an increase in the number of individuals who are, effectively, unemployed. More than half of experts (52%) think that new employees will be created by robotics and AI technologies rather than lost. Although the second group acknowledges that AI will eventually replace humans, they are optimistic that innovative thinkers will come up with brand new fields of work and methods of making a livelihood, just like they did at the start of the Industrial Revolution.

[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2014/08/06/future-of-jobs/

[2] The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: Will Robots Actually Replace People? By Ashley Stahl; Forbes India.

Legal Perspective

Having certain legal rights under the law is another aspect of being human. Basic rights to life and freedom are guaranteed to every person. Even if robots haven’t been granted these protections just yet, it’s important to have this conversation about whether or not they should be considered living beings, will we provide robots legal rights if they develop a sense of right and wrong and AGI on par with that of humans? An intriguing fact is that discussions over the legal status of robots have been going on since 1942. A short story by science fiction author Isaac Asimov described the three rules of robotics:

1. No robot may intentionally or negligently cause harm to a human person.
2. Second, a robot must follow human commands unless doing so would violate the First Law.
3. Third, a robot has the duty to safeguard its own existence so long as doing so does not violate the First or Second Laws.

These guidelines are not scientific rules, but they do highlight the importance of the lawful discussion of robots in determining the potential good or bad they may bring to humanity. Yet, this is not the concluding phase. Relevant recent events, such as the EU’s abandoned discussion of giving legal personhood to robots, are essential to keeping this discussion alive. As if all this weren’t unsettling enough, Sophia, the robot was recently awarded citizenship in Saudi Arabia, a place where (human) women are not permitted to walk without a male guardian or wear a Hijab.

When discussing whether or not robots should be allowed legal rights, the larger debate is on whether or not they should be given rights on par with corporations or people. There is still a lot of disagreement on this topic.

[3] https://webhome.auburn.edu/~vestmon/robotics.html#

[4] https://www.dw.com/en/saudi-arabia-grants-citizenship-to-robot-sophia/a-41150856

[5] https://cyberblogindia.in/will-robots-ever-be-accepted-as-living-beings/

Reasons why robots aren’t about to take over the world soon:

● Like a human’s hands

Attempts to recreate the intricacy of human hands have stalled in recent years. Present-day robots have clumsy hands since they were not designed for precise work. Lab-created hands, although more advanced, lack the strength and dexterity of human hands.

● Sense of touch

The tactile sensors found in human and animal skin have no technological equal. This awareness is crucial for performing sophisticated manoeuvres. Compared to the human brain, the software robots use to read and respond to the data sent by their touch sensors is primitive.

● Command over manipulation

To operate items in the same manner that humans do, we would need to be able to devise a way to control our mechanical hands, even if they were as realistic as human hands and covered in sophisticated artificial skin. It takes human children years to learn to accomplish this, and we still don’t know how they learn.

● Interaction between humans and robots

Human communication relies on our ability to understand one another verbally and visually, as well as via other senses, including scent, taste, and touch. Whilst there has been a lot of improvement in voice and object recognition, current systems can only be employed in somewhat controlled conditions where a high level of speed is necessary.

● Human Reason

Technically feasible does not always have to be constructed. Given the inherent dangers they pose to society, rational humans could stop developing such robots before they reach their full potential. Several decades from now, if the aforementioned technical hurdles are cleared and advanced human-like robots are constructed, legislation might still prohibit misuse.

Conclusion:

https://theconversation.com/five-reasons-why-robots-wont-take-over-the-world-94124

Robots are now common in many industries, and they will soon make their way into the public sphere in forms far more intricate than those of robot vacuum cleaners. Yet, even though robots may appear like people in the next two decades, they will not be human-like. Instead, they’ll continue to function as very complex machines.

The moment has come to start thinking about boosting technological competence while encouraging uniquely human qualities. Human abilities like creativity, intuition, initiative and critical thinking are not yet likely to be replicated by machines.