Who Decides What AI Tells You? Campbell Brown, Former Meta News Chief, Weighs In

Introduction to AI Information Ecosystem

Campbell Brown, a renowned TV journalist and former Facebook news chief, has been observing the AI landscape with growing concern. As AI reshapes the way people consume information, Brown sees a disturbing trend: the spread of inaccurate or misleading information. Her company, Forum AI, aims to address this issue by evaluating and improving the performance of foundation models on high-stakes topics.

Forum AI: A Step Towards More Accurate AI

Forum AI was founded 17 months ago in New York, with the goal of recruiting top experts to architect benchmarks and train AI judges to evaluate models at scale. Brown has assembled a team of prominent experts, including Niall Ferguson, Fareed Zakaria, and former Secretary of State Tony Blinken, to help Forum AI achieve its mission. The company has made significant progress, reaching a 90% consensus with human experts in its geopolitics work.

The Origin of Forum AI

Brown traces the origin of Forum AI to the moment when ChatGPT was first released publicly. She realized that AI would become the primary funnel for information flow, but the accuracy of this information was not a priority for foundation model companies. This lack of focus on accuracy, combined with the potential consequences for her own children, motivated Brown to take action.

Evaluating Leading Models

When Forum AI began evaluating leading models, the findings were disappointing. Brown cited examples of models pulling from biased sources, missing context, and straw-manning arguments without acknowledgment. Despite these challenges, she believes that there are easy fixes that could vastly improve the outcomes.

Lessons from Facebook

Brown spent years at Facebook watching what happens when a platform optimizes for the wrong thing. She learned that optimizing for engagement can be detrimental to society, leaving many less informed. Her hope is that AI can break this cycle by prioritizing truth and accuracy over user engagement.

The Role of Enterprise

Brown believes that enterprise may be an unlikely ally in the pursuit of truth and accuracy in AI. Companies using AI for credit decisions, lending, insurance, and hiring care about liability and will want to optimize for getting it right. This demand for accurate AI is what Forum AI is betting its business on.

Challenges and Opportunities

The compliance landscape is currently inadequate, with checkbox audits and standardized benchmarks that Brown considers insufficient. Real evaluation requires domain expertise and takes time. Despite these challenges, Brown is optimistic about the potential for Forum AI to make a positive impact.

Conclusion

Trust in AI is at an all-time low, and Brown thinks that skepticism is justified in many cases. However, she believes that by working together, we can create a better future for AI information ecosystems. As the AI landscape continues to evolve, it is essential to prioritize accuracy, truth, and transparency to ensure that AI serves the greater good.

About the Author

Connie Loizos is the Editor in Chief and General Manager of TechCrunch. She has been reporting on Silicon Valley since the late 1990s and is also the founder of StrictlyVC, a daily e-newsletter and lecture series acquired by Yahoo in August 2023.