Linda Moulton Howe, an American journalist, and New World Order conspiracy theorist, stirred up controversy with her speech about the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) at the Los Angeles Conscious Life Expo in December 2018.



In particular, she claimed that 4 AI robots killed 29 humans in Japan, and warned that there’s nothing you can do to stop it once AI wakes up and replaces human beings as the dominant species on earth. Is she right? Let’s find out the truth behind this fake news!




The Truth Behind the Fake News


Howe talked about how the existence of artificial intelligence (AI) threatens humanity. She spreads false and inaccurate news at every opportunity. After this statement went viral, she has faced harsh criticism and faced heavy backlash from fellow journalists. Some have pointed out that this was something she talked about and highlighted years ago to drum up controversy because she doesn't work full-time as a journalist anymore.



One point that is key to understanding is that even though artificial intelligence can be a danger, it will likely be very far away from anything remotely close to becoming dangerous like that. Furthermore, many things need to happen before AI becomes something so advanced and terrifying as what is portrayed in movies.



What we are most concerned with currently are the data sets these AIs learn from, which could lead to biases or discrimination on people's part because they use data to make decisions. Google has been heavily criticized for its image recognition technology because it classified black people as gorillas while Japanese snow monkeys were correctly identified.



For example, Google Photos automatically tags some black people in images as gorons due to Google algorithms trained by other users uploading photos of gorillas. Also, if there is no diversity amongst the programmers, these programs may miss important points when analyzing information.



There are still more questions than answers when talking about AI, but it is important to be aware of the dangers that come with AI programs not being diverse enough in order to avoid any issues down the line. Do not believe her fake information.



No other sources relayed the same information


When the first video of her speech surfaced, it was unclear who captured it. However, we found one video of her speech uploaded by Linda Moulton Howe's YouTube channel. In this video, she briefly touched on how 29 people have been killed by four (AI) robots in Japan and warned us that AI causes more and more hazards as robots become smarter.



She also referenced an April 2018 study that found that an AI-driven algorithm could make a diagnosis on 16 out of 31 ophthalmology images with 94% accuracy, higher than a human level. To our knowledge, other sources did not relay any information about an attack like this, so our team did some additional research to help clear up some rumors and misinformation. According to Kotaku, this story came from a website posted called World New Daily.



They published a story on December 18th, 2018 titled Four Artificial Intelligence Robots Killed 29 Humans in Japan. After doing more research, they found out that World New Daily is owned by Takashi Shimizu, famous for making horror films such as The Grudge and The Ring-and they also verified the email address given. There was no mention of any robot attack at all.




Have robots/AI ever killed a human?


No, there have been no documented cases of an AI robot killing a human. In fact, for decades, the scientific community has been researching ways that AI can assist humans. For example, one study published in 2018 investigated how voice-controlled computing assistants like Alexa can help people with depression and anxiety by providing companionship and information on mental health resources to them.



Individuals have also used robots to look after themselves and other patients who might need assistance with their everyday lives, like bathing or feeding themselves. Artificial intelligence is more likely to be a boon than a bane to humanity as it continues to evolve.



It is essential to point out that this video was not filmed at Los Angeles Conscious Life Expo, and Linda Moulton Howe did not make these statements. Furthermore, even if she had made these statements, they would not be indicative of her views on artificial intelligence.



Final Thoughts


We all know by now that anything you read on the internet needs to be taken with a grain of salt. As much as we don't want to believe it, many of what's written on social media platforms and search engines are articles from credible-looking sources but are often made up stories to manipulate readers. This was demonstrated recently by a piece of fake news about 4 AI robots who allegedly killed 29 people in Japan.

I don't believe it! I think this could not have happened in 2022 or 2023.

Omg. I hope this news is fake because it sounds really scary. I have never read such articles about AI yet. All this sounds like science fiction about Terminator, Skynet, or Umbrella Corporation. I read an article that some people like Elon Musk believe that there are Dangers with Ai. And maybe all this is in the distant future. But many scientists already do not exclude the possibility that AI will be able to develop to threaten humanity as an intelligent species. I wouldn't like to be in such a parallel reality where evil terminators live. Btw, I also read other news about AI in that article.