Now AI will fact-check your personal conversations in real-time
We'll soon see the rise of citizen-to-citizen surveillance
The first week of autumn is the perfect time for a newsletter.
I hope you’ve had a great summer. I did.
This week, my PhD program started, and I realise I have a busy fall ahead — balancing both PhD coursework and consulting/speaking work. But they keep telling us to write as much as we can, so I will try to publish at least once a week until Christmas.
And due to popular request, I’m bringing back the recommendations at the end.
Enjoy!
Anna
Let’s start with some thinking:
How often are you entirely sure about what you say? 100% certain.
Probably not very often.
Maybe you even know you are wrong. You may have forgotten the exact facts, but it doesn't really matter for the story you're telling, since the main point of what you're communicating is still coming across.
However, the consequences of guessing a bit or failing to verify our facts may increase soon.
Large language models that can process audio, text, video, and images are making recording and fact-checking with AI very accessible.
While most people have been carrying audio recording devices in their pockets for almost 20 years, we now have a simple way to process that information at scale.
If you have ChatGPT installed as an app on your phone, recording and transcribing a conversation is a simple click away.
What does this mean in practice?
From now on, every time you have a conversation or do a presentation, it could be recorded, processed by AI and fact-checked in real-time — by anyone.
And while we have GDPR and other legislation to protect citizens online, it is currently legal to record other people, both without their awareness and consent, as long as you are an "active" part of that conversation yourself.
This means we are likely to see two situations where information is recorded and processed with AI:
- Transparent information capture – using bots and notetakers openly in digital meetings.
- Non-transparent or secret information capture – where recordings and AI capture sound without our awareness.
I'm certain I've been recorded both with and without my knowledge during meetings in the last year. Those transcripts are now forever saved in databases, without my consent. I have no idea where that information might end up, and I have no control over it.
So, what consequences will this have for us as citizens?
Anyone making public statements will have to keep track of their sources. Everyone, especially managers and teachers, will have to be more careful with what they say. This might affect spontaneous, open and creative conversations, even in private, since our words might be saved or fact-checked without our knowledge.
We might over-optimise our communication towards safe and “AI-friendly” content without nuance, and avoid the testing of new ideas.
I don’t think a society where we surveil each other, for any reason, is a healthy society. Being wrong and challenged in friendly settings is what moves our thinking forward. And the majority of interesting conversations take place in the grey zone.
Still, the question isn’t whether this technology is available; it already is. Now we must decide how to use it. What is your take? Leave your reflections in the comment section!
And if you find this topic interesting, you can read a more in-depth text I’ve written about “soft” citizen-to-citizen surveillance on my website.
Recommendations of the Week
MARKETING ETHICS — L'Oréal faces backlash for hiring an OnlyFans performer to promote a makeup brand popular with teens, raising questions about branding, ethics and influence.
AI and MENTAL HEALTH — ChatGPT users are getting pulled into hours-long conversations that spark increasingly bizarre theories, raising concerns about mental health.
KIDS and SCREENS — A new poll reveals that despite their attachment to screens, kids crave more freedom and unsupervised play—what’s missing is not desire, but opportunity.
AI and JOURNALISM — Major publications are retracting freelance stories amid growing evidence they were written by AI and filled with invented sources and fictional places.
LEARN WITH ME — Take a course similar to the one I currently take as part of my PhD— Introduction to Philosophy (this one from the University of Edinburgh).
