Why trust and safety discussions are key to AI safety

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, particularly large language models, rapidly evolve, balancing innovation with safety has become crucial.

Trust and safety (T&S) professionals have long been dedicated to protecting online communities and platforms from various harms, and the intersections between T&S experts and the AI community are therefore key to addressing the complexities of online and AI safety.

To achieve this balance, open discussions on trust and safety, especially regarding harmful content, are essential.

In the last 10 years, the T&S community has made great progress, gaining valuable practical experience and knowledge.

This advancement has been closely connected to the rise of social media, which has rapidly expanded the digital landscape and brought new challenges for managing online safety and user data.

Increased regulations like the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have put more pressure on companies to protect user data. More recently, specific online safety regulations such as the Australian Online Safety Act 2021, the Singapore Online Safety Act 2022, the United Kingdom's Online Safety Act 2023, and the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) require platforms to identify, assess, mitigate and disclose potential risks in their online services.

The recent third edition of the TrustCon24 Conference well acknowledged this growth. The event, held in San Francisco from July 22- 24, was organized by the Trust and Safety Professional Association and aimed to foster a global community of practice among T&S professionals.

Throughout the conference, the potential for AI systems to generate or amplify harmful content was widely discussed. For instance, AI technologies can be misused to create realistic fake media, which can contribute to misinformation, defamation and exploitation.

Moreover, AI can facilitate cyberbullying and harassment by, for example, using automated bots to send abusive messages at scale and creating deepfakes or synthetic media for defamation.

The proliferation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was identified as another significant challenge. The advanced quality and photorealism of such material complicate law enforcement efforts to assess and address risks effectively.

With more than 15 billion AI-generated images circulating only in 2023 and growing, the scale of this issue is daunting. The Internet Watch Foundation, for example, identified 20,254 AI-generated images posted to a dark web CSAM site within a single month, highlighting the urgent need for action.

While the challenges of artificial intelligence safety required strong collaboration, the T&S community and the AI and machine learning (ML) communities have developed somewhat independently.

The TrustCon24 session ‘Trust & Safety x Responsible AI: Bridging the Gap’ focused on this separation. Dave Willner, a Fellow at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center, highlighted how connections between the communities have grown over the last years and months, but that there are still significant misalignment and gaps in safety practices.

Meanwhile, Humane Intelligence CEO Rumman Chowdhury referred not only to the amount of research around AI and AI safety, but also it the still minor practical experience in how artificial intelligence products could be exploited to create harm.

For example, AI teams working on datasets might not be familiar with established T&S protocols for handling illegal content. Similarly, ML engineering teams may lack experience with policy-making and regulatory procedures. This disconnect impedes the effective implementation of safety measures and the development of cohesive strategies to address AI-related issues.

Some key lessons from TrustCon24, as well as from the World Economic Forum’s Global Coalition for Digital Safety meetings, which comprised of leading trust and safety professionals from all stakeholders, include:

While there are lessons learned from both sides, it is important to recognise that not all lessons from T&S practices will translate directly to AI safety. As Henry Ajder, a leading expert on AI, highlighted during one of the last Global Coalition meetings, “learnings which do translate could help us avoid making similar foundational mistakes in the development of AI to those we saw with the rise of major digital platforms, particularly social media”.

Finally, it is worth noticing that, during the TrustCon24 conference, there was a strong appetite for collaboration, with professionals from various sectors including AI companies, experts and researchers, underscoring the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to build safer and more trustworthy digital ecosystems.

The World Economic Forum's Artificial Alliance Governance Alliance (AIGA) and the Global Coalition for Digital Safety are already championing this collaborative approach.

As outlined by Daniel Dobrygowski, Head of Trust and Safety at the World Economic Forum, “safety is inherently a cross-disciplinary issue. Regardless of the technology or domain, user safety helps to build trust in the underlying technology – something especially vital in emerging and rapidly accelerating technologies like AI.”

The Forum’s work in AIGA drives the development of trustworthy AI, promoting responsible use and fostering innovation. Its specific efforts focus on integrating AI technologies responsibly across industries, developing robust regulatory frameworks and advancing technical consensus related to safe and secure AI systems.

Meanwhile, the Global Coalition for Digital Safety, comprised of leading trust and safety professionals, aims to accelerate public-private cooperation to tackle harmful content online. This includes sharing best practices for new online safety regulations, taking coordinated action to minimize online risks, and driving collaboration on programs to enhance digital literacy for fighting disinformation.

Both communities have valuable insights and learnings that can enhance their collective efforts. By fostering open discussions among communities and implementing robust safety measures, we can navigate the complexities of AI development and ensure that these transformative technologies are harnessed responsibly and ethically for the benefit of all.