For newcomers to the U.S., artificial intelligence can be very helpful—and very dangerous.
One local nonprofit is at the forefront of trying to keep immigrants safe online.
International Rescue Committee serves refugees and forced migrants for at least five years after they come to the US.
That means they can help people develop longer-term skills that are essential to living in the States—like digital literacy.
IRC's chapter in Spokane has long offered classes on things like setting up an email account or paying bills online.
But thanks to emerging tech, their newest digital skills classes are tackling topics like AI.
Ab Denman, a digital skills specialist with IRC, says artificial intelligence is being woven into new translation tools—and making them a lot better.
“AI translation is really helpful for things to do with tone and context, especially dialect,” Denman said. "My clients have said that dialect is becoming a really big barrier when it comes to, like, Google Translate because it doesn't understand the differences between the same language with different regions and countries."
But if non-English speakers ask ChatGPT for help with personal issues, that can put them at risk.
“Basically, if you wouldn't tell it to a stranger, don't tell it to the AI," Denman said. "So even if it's something like asking why you're having a specific health issue, we are kind of at the mercy of companies when it comes to trusting that they'll protect our data and not sell it to, say, insurance companies that will want to know about health problems in a specific area and then raise rates.”
Denman also teaches participants how to spot housing scams on Facebook Marketplace, or gauge whether the voice on the other end of the phone is actually a government official or an AI-generation.
"Unfortunately, the scams move faster than some of the warnings and it's getting very smart," Denman said.
Once participants finish the class, they get to take home a brand new Lenovo tablet. That's thanks to a generous IRC donor. Denman says that kind of technology is essential to navigating doctor's offices, banking, and self-sufficiency.
And despite its threats, Denman refuses to villainize artificial intelligence.
"AI is a tool like any other thing," they said. "Like a hammer, it can be used to fix big problems and it can be used to damage the wall entirely."
Denman teaches the digital safety classes in English. Thanks to a real-life translator on the other end of a phone, the lessons are translated into 10 different languages.
But IRC says it would be a whole lot cheaper to use an AI translator instead.
