Lying in the age of artificial intelligence: A call to moraland legal responsibility

Abstract

in Western culture, perceptions and emotions have oftenprevailed over truth and reality, trivializing the act of lying andundermining trust between individuals and institutions. Today,freedom of expression and the right of citizens to freely formtheir own opinions—based on facts and not falsehoods—aresometimes threatened by the impunity with which lying isallowed in public debate, even in societies that considerthemselves democratic. Lying, especially when practiced by publicrepresentatives, can cause serious social harm, and we believethat globalization calls for a higher common standard of respectfor the truth. Along with the reflections of historical authors onthe subject, in this essay we analyze two cases as examples: thefalse statistics used to achieve the decriminalization of abortion indemocratic countries, and the lies of the Chinese authorities duringthe Covid-19 pandemic in one of today’s leading totalitarian states.We believe that these behaviors should not go unpunished, andtherefore we propose to insert new criminal offenses in nationaland international criminal law, especially for those in public officeand media professionals. Our objective is to preserve and promotetruthfulness in our societies in order to foster trust and peacefulcoexistence among free and equal people.