As the election draws near, it seems to have consumed the entire online sphere, as well as a great deal of our kitchen table. And while it is definitely an important and visible battle, the defining war of our age is being fought in the dark, as unnoticed as it is potent. Let’s shine some light on it.

As technology advances and spreads, we’re finding that our moral and legal codes are struggling to keep up. Well, perhaps it would be easier to say that the nuance of our application is struggling to keep up. Either way, with technological advancement far outstripping our moral and legal advancement, the position we find ourselves in is by no means unique. Examples of this happening in the past include the creation of nuclear weapons, mustard gas, and trench warfare, and the Industrial Revolution. 

But there is another layer to our dilemma beyond that of determining what is ethical and what is not. Once we have decided what is moral or legal, how can it be enforced? Online crime knows no borders; someone in Colorado could be targeted by someone in Paraguay who has his data encrypted and routed through a server in, say, Switzerland. Where should the crime be prosecuted? In the United States? Paraguay? Switzerland? And of course, none of these nations will have the same laws, or ideas of punishment, and the whole thing will turn into a great mess.

Let’s take a look at some of these issues.

Children And Privacy In The Social Media World

The Ruby Franke case rocked the social media world—or at the very least, my Instagram feed. For those of you who weren’t following the affair, Ruby Franke was a parenting influencer who documented her strict parenting of her six children. Questions were raised about the ethics of her parenting style, and it turned out that what was caught on social media was only the tip of the iceberg. She ended up being convicted on four charges of abuse, and may serve up to a 60-year sentence (MSNBC).

It’s easy to see this fringe case—and others like it—as the approximate sum of social media’s evils, but despite its visibility, it’s only a minor concern. The much larger one is that of privacy. These young children have not consented and cannot consent to being on social media, nor do they understand the ramifications of such a thing. And once something is online, it is, for all intents and purposes, permanent. Even if the original post is taken down, copies and archives could still very well be on the internet.

Where is the justice in that? What is the ethical—and legal—line that needs to be drawn?

Online And AI Pornography

Pornography has also spread rapidly online, easily accessible at just the click of a button. On top of that, images that are posted, even if they are taken down, can never be fully scrubbed from the internet. Between downloads and archives, there will always be some copies floating around.

Even images that were never intended for public consumption are not entirely private, as proven in the 2014 leaks of hundreds of celebrities’ nudes (FERN). Nothing is safe in this digital world we’ve created. 

AI technology also allows pornography to be easily created, whether that’s face-swapping women into porn (TechnologyReview) or ‘stripping’ images of clothed women (MSN). This is deeply disturbing and dehumanizing, all the more so for being nonconsensual (JDSupra).

Deepfake AI

Pornography is not the only danger of AI. The advance of video generators and voice cloners means that even the cautious can be fooled (TheConversation). The voice of a loved one could beg for a ransom, even when they are safely at work or school. A video of a presidential candidate could depict them doing or saying something, only for it to be AI-generated. The line between reality and fiction is being blurred, if not erased.

The Transhuman Being

And finally, as a climatic concern, the pursuit of transhuman beings. Transhumanism is a “philosophical and scientific movement that advocates the use of current and emerging technologies—such as genetic engineering, cyronics, artificial intelligence (AI), and nanotechnology—to augment human capabilities and improve the human condition. (Britannica)” From genetic engineering to designer babies, brain chips to attempted immortality, there’s much to marvel at and just as much to be concerned about (TheConversation). As what it means to be human grows increasingly complicated, so do the moral and legal issues around human rights. 

The Pivot Point

As you ponder these opportunities and problems, perhaps the only apparent connecting thread is that they all involve humans and technology. That is undoubtedly true, but humanity and technology have always coincided. It’s just that now, our technology is so unbelievably potent that we are forced to ask one simple but strange question.  

What does it mean to be human?

And with that, what is the value of humanity, both individually and as a whole?

Unfortunately, at a time when we need answers more than ever, the answer seems more complex—and more dubious—than ever. As we’re losing the definition and forgetting the value of ‘human,’ we’re also losing the concept of, and ability to defend or protect, human rights.

This is a huge issue that will literally define the next century, if not the rest of history.