Dis/Trusting Generative AI? Assessing Four Types of Deception Through Generative AI – Judith Simon (University of Hamburg)

Abstract:

Generative AI has taken the world by storm, intensifying debates on the ethics of AI in general and notions of trustworthy Generative AI in particular. In my talk, I propose the notion of quadruple deception to capture a distinctive feature of Generative AI with significant epistemological, ethical and political implications: 1) deception regarding the ontological status of one’s interactional counterpart, 2) deception regarding the capacities of AI, 3) deception through content created with Generative AI as well as 4) deception resulting from function creep of Generative AI. Arguing that deception endangers trust and trustworthiness, I assess the epistemic, ethical and political implications of these four different types of deception for trust and trustworthiness. I will end with some conclusions on how to increase the trustworthiness of Generative AI to enable more justified trust in such technologies.

This event is part of our summer term 2026 Lecture Series Digital Complexity: Beyond Human Understanding.

If you would like to attend, please register with events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.