dana rao interview: Tough for democracy to thrive once you start doubting reality: Adobe’s Dana Rao

In a year when several countries, including India and the US will have elections, addressing artificial intelligence-generated misinformation that could deceive voters is an urgent global threat that requires various stakeholders such as the governments and the technology industry to come together, said Dana Rao, executive vice president and chief trust officer at software major Adobe. Rao, however, cautioned that regulations should not stifle innovation.

“Government and industry have to work together in order to have a global solution to AI-generated misinformation,” the top executive told ET in an exclusive interview. “Once you start doubting reality, it’s very difficult for a democracy to thrive because everyone’s fighting about the facts.”

The problem is multidimensional, however, and while industry players are collectively making efforts to authenticate information and develop misinformation detection tools, they alone cannot solve it, Rao said. “The most important thing that can happen right now is that governments can lean in with more urgency,” Rao said. “We need them to set standards.”

While India has a draft regulatory framework in the works likely to come out later this year, Rao suggested that this kind of action should perhaps be fast tracked.

In a year when several countries, including India and the US will have elections, addressing artificial intelligence-generated misinformation that could deceive voters is an urgent global threat that requires various stakeholders such as the governments and the technology industry to come together, said Dana Rao, executive vice president and chief trust officer at software major Adobe. Rao, however, cautioned that regulations should not stifle innovation.

“Government and industry have to work together in order to have a global solution to AI-generated misinformation,” the top executive told ET in an exclusive interview. “Once you start doubting reality, it’s very difficult for a democracy to thrive because everyone’s fighting about the facts.”

The problem is multidimensional, however, and while industry players are collectively making efforts to authenticate information and develop misinformation detection tools, they alone cannot solve it, Rao said. “The most important thing that can happen right now is that governments can lean in with more urgency,” Rao said. “We need them to set standards.”

While India has a draft regulatory framework in the works likely to come out later this year, Rao suggested that this kind of action should perhaps be fast tracked.