Trevor Noah: Seeing is no longer believing

As GenAI tools such as ChatGPT continue to gain popularity, author and presenter Trevor Noah urged caution about overestimating their capabilities.

“As human beings, we’re oftentimes prone to viewing these technologies as being human when, in fact, sometimes, they are just giving us an output that matches our interpretation of what a human being would or wouldn’t do,” said Trevor.

While applauding technology’s ability to connect people across divides, Trevor warned of unintended consequences: “I think the biggest thing we always have to acknowledge is this: if you bridge the gap between people very quickly, it’s good for good. It’s also [good] for bad.”

“I think one of the most difficult things in dealing with technology is understanding that we do not always know the effect of that technology that we’re implementing,” warned Trevor.

The author and comedian explained that, as AI advances, AI-generated images, videos and text will lead to a situation where – between deep fakes and misinformation – no one will know what to believe.

“We’ve lived in a world where people have said ‘don’t believe it until you see it’, right? But now, when you see something with your own eyes, can you believe it?,” asked Trevor.