In our Data Insiders podcast, YLE’s Minna Mustakallio and Tietoevry Create’s Denny Royal suggest we need more human-centric approaches to tackle AI’s most pressing ethical issues.
Listen to the podcast on SpotifyThe pursuit of efficiency often comes at the expense of privacy, introduces cybersecurity risks, enables more sophisticated forms of disinformation, and poses other challenges. How can we better evaluate and mitigate these risks as the technology continues to advance at dizzying speed?
Part of the solution may lie with designers and their expertise in designing digital products and services that prioritize user needs and ethics, offering a much-needed counterbalance to technology-first approaches. In our Data Insiders podcast, our host Oona Ylänkö sits down with two experts to discuss how a future like this could look like – and what we can do to pave the way for it.
Minna Mustakallio, Head of Responsible AI at the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, works to ensure that the citizens can continue to trust the country’s leading news source while maintaining their media literacy in a changing world.
Denny Royal is the Global Director of Design at Tietoevry Create. With a holistic view on design’s possibilities, he is deeply knowledgeable in combining advanced behavioral science with the latest technology innovations.
Together, they discuss the challenges and opportunities of AI from the perspective of the evolving media landscape, the ways in which current AI tools are shaping the way we think, and how we can harness innovation within safer and better-regulated environments.
Technology has always shaped our cognitive functions. While it’s difficult to predict where AI will eventually take us in this regard, both guests agree that routinely automating tasks requiring concentration and critical thinking might not be entirely great news. Such major changes will pose challenges to our educational systems as well – and AI is likely to further accelerate this transformation.
“As humans, we are creatures of habit and will take the shortcut if it’s available to us”, Royal reflects.
“In the US, where the educational system is largely based on standardized tests, we are seeing kids come out of major colleges that don’t know how to engage with a long form book, for instance.”
As we navigate a daily flood of information – much of it now AI-generated – the demands for media literacy are evolving. This is what Mustakallio’s role at YLE revolves around. Across Europe, public service broadcasters now have dedicated AI teams tackling these challenges – a task that is as complex as it is crucial.
This means addressing questions such as: what does AI mean for public service media? How can similar organizations across Europe collaborate to ensure that people can continue to trust them, even as the ways we consume information rapidly evolve? The expertise required for these efforts will no doubt only grow.
“Currently, we have a verification team that not only works to catch disinformation narratives and deepfakes – but also share those findings with the general public so they can better understand how they might be manipulated,” Mustakallio elaborates.
Mustakallio’s background in design helps her incorporate user-centric methodologies in a setting where they’re just as essential.
“With AI, the process always starts from the data. Often, I ask the developers if they think the user would be surprised by how their data is used. It’s all about asking the right questions,” she notes.
While AI poses significant risks, its potential for positive outcomes is equally vast. Both Mustakallio and Royal are deeply engaged in various AI-related projects and research. Royal has worked on initiatives in healthcare where AI can be [JM1] used to save lives and is now focusing on the next generation of AI interfaces, exploring how they can be designed with a more human-centered approach.
Interfaces play a crucial role in shaping the future interplay between humans and AI. From an ethical design perspective, the key question is how to design them in ways that preserve user agency.
“The chat age of AI will eventually end, and the technology will become much more embedded into all applications,” Royal explains.
“We need to know what the AI agent is doing for us behind the scenes.”
The design principles for such interfaces could include transparency about the source of data to enable easier fact-checking and making it clear to users when they are interacting with an AI system in the first place. This approach is different from how we traditionally interact with computers. Instead of simply inputting data and receiving an output, the exchange between a human and AI is a much more complex dialogue. To navigate this uncharted territory, designers must dive in headfirst.
“At YLE, we believe you can’t understand a technology without using it yourself. You just have to have safe sandboxes to do it before you actually take it to the public,” Mustakallio points out.
Indeed, assuring the users that the AI tool they’re using is built responsibly might be one of the first challenges many companies need to overcome in the future. Seasoned designers know that for this, there are no shortcuts: the bond needs to be earned.
“Just like in human relationships – you gain trust over time,” Royal emphasizes.
Data changes the world – but does your company take full advantage of it? Data Insiders is a podcast where we seek answers to one question: how can data help us all do better business? The podcast addresses the trends and phenomena around this hot topic in an understandable and interesting way. Together with our guests, we share knowledge, offer collegial support and reveal the truth behind hype and buzzwords.