Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa Urges Immediate AI Regulation to Avert Loss of Human Agency

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa has issued a stark warning that artificial intelligence will strip humanity of its agency unless immediate and robust legislation is enacted to limit its reach. Ressa, a journalist and co-chair of the United Nations' international scientific panel on AI, argues that the technology has already hijacked human attention and biology through social media and chatbots.

The Case for Urgent Regulation

Speaking at a conference in Oslo, Ressa framed the need for AI regulation as a “public safety issue,” not a matter of free speech. She asserted that citizens must pressure politicians for legislation before the technology becomes uncontrollable.

"I think we’re at that phase where if this doesn’t happen, we will tip," Ressa said in an interview with Reuters. She warned that the point of no return is approaching, stating, "(It) will be beyond our control if we don’t step in now."

Three Waves of AI's Impact

Ressa outlined what she described as three distinct waves of AI's influence on society, which have unfolded over the technology's 70-year history.

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• First Wave: Social media platforms captured human attention, leading to societal polarization and individual isolation.
• Second Wave: Chatbots began "hacking our biology" by manipulating the human need for intimacy.
• Third Wave: The final stage involves agentic and multi-agentic AI, frontier models that not only impersonate humans but can act on their behalf, directly threatening human agency.

Corporate Accountability and Solutions

Ressa dismissed arguments that regulation would cause Western nations to lose an AI race to China, calling it "good spin." She noted that China imposes more safeguards on its citizens, such as age restrictions on TikTok, than Silicon Valley companies apply to global users.

The first step towards a solution, according to Ressa, is to hold technology companies accountable for societal harm. She pointed to U.S. lawsuits that led Meta Platforms to pay up to $18 billion over the next decade and restrict teen usage of its platforms as a positive development. Ressa advocates for removing addictive features from these platforms for all users and creating alternative, public-interest communication networks, such as the Rappler Communities app, which is built on a decentralized protocol.