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'Society cannot function if no one is accountable for AI'  Jaron Lanier, the
godfather of virtual reality, discusses how far our empathy should extend to
AI in episode two of new podcast, The Ten Reckonings

Date:
Thu, 15 Jan 2026 10:48:34 +0000

Description:
As AI spreads faster than the rules meant to govern it, technologists warn
that progress without human accountability risks undermining society itself.

FULL STORY

Whether we like it or not, we cant ignore AI. What started as a fun, gimmicky
chatbot on our desktops, albeit one that could talk a bit like a human, is
already taking jobs , accessing medical records , and reshaping workplaces. 
We are rapidly approaching the point where the practical realities of 
building and governing advanced AI systems must be confronted. 

As the recent furor over indecent Grok-generated images on X, and the use of
Meta AI smart glasses to record women without their permission for social
media clicks has shown, the guardrails meant to help society cope with the
deluge of AI devices and new technologies seem seriously lacking. 

Even before the latest controversies around AI-generated images, one of the
biggest shocks to me was the way some AI companies decided it was perfectly
acceptable to train their models on copyrighted material from authors and
artists without permission  and the fact that, despite a few lingering
lawsuits, they appear to have faced few consequences so far. Zero
accountability 

All of this makes me wonder whether were really ready for a world in which AI
runs everything with zero accountability. Two people who have been grappling
with similar questions are technologist Jaron Lanier and Dr Ben Goertzel, CEO
of SingularityNET and founder of the ASI Alliance, in the next upcoming
episode of The Ten Reckonings podcast. 

Society cannot function if no one is accountable for AI, says Lanier, who is
often described as the 'godfather of virtual reality'. 

This new episode forms part of a series where these issues are explored in
depth. According to Goertzel, The ASI Alliances purpose is not to present a
unified position, but to create space for the worlds leading thinkers to
openly debate and, in doing so, help society reckon with the profound choices
ahead. 

Lanier discusses the idea of AI sentience and its implications. He argues: I
dont care how autonomous your AI is  some human has to be responsible for 
what it does, or we cannot have a functioning society. All of human society,
human experience, and law is based on people being real. If you assign this
responsibility to technology, you undo civilization. That is immoral  you
absolutely cant do it. Shaping the future 

I agree with him. While accelerating toward more autonomous, decentralized 
AGI could ultimately prove safer and more beneficial than todays fragmented
landscape of proprietary systems with weak guardrails, Laniers point about
human accountability is exactly right. Right now, AI companies seem to be
operating on the assumption that its better to beg forgiveness later than ask
for permission now, and that approach cannot continue. 

And while there appears to be little hope of meaningful AI regulation coming
from the US at the moment, the rest of the world may be prepared to step in.
The UK regulator Ofcom is launching an investigation into X over Grok, and
Indonesia and Malaysia have banned Grok altogether. 

At this point we all know that AI is going to shape our future, but the
question of responsibility still lingers. Governments are going to have to be
willing to step up because if they hesitate then the current lack of
accountability edges us into even more dangerous territory. Whether thats
through images, or medical advice, or the protection of our rights. Progress
without accountability isnt innovation, it's recklessness. 

======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/society-cannot-function-if-n
o-one-is-accountable-for-ai-jaron-lanier-the-godfather-of-virtual-reality-disc
usses-how-far-our-empathy-should-extend-to-ai-in-episode-two-of-new-podcast-th
e-ten-reckonings

$$
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