Can Media Act as a Soft Regulator of Safe AI Development? A Game Theoretical Analysis
When developers of artificial intelligence (AI) products need to decide between profit and safety for the users, they likely choose profit. Untrustworthy AI technology must come packaged with tangible negative consequences. Here, we envisage those consequences as the loss of reputation caused by media coverage of their misdeeds, disseminated to the public. We explore whether media coverage has the potential to push AI creators into the production of safe products, enabling widespread adoption of AI technology. We created artificial populations of self-interested creators and users and studied them through the lens of evolutionary game theory. Our results reveal that media is indeed able to foster cooperation between creators and users, but not always. Cooperation does not evolve if the quality of the information provided by the media is not reliable enough, or if the costs of either accessing media or ensuring safety are too high. By shaping public perception and holding developers accountable, media emerges as a powerful soft regulator – guiding AI safety even in the absence of formal government oversight.
Authors
- Zia Ush Shamszaman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1954-1950)
- Zhao Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0897-6724)
- The Anh Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3095-7714)
- Hélder Fonseca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9002-8976)
- Ndidi Bianca Ogbo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1814-1428)
- Daniele Proverbio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0122-479X)
- Marcus Krellner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8269-965X)
- Paolo Bova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7971-1076)
- Theodor Cimpeanu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7503-0368)
- Alessandro Di Stefano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4905-3309)
- Elias Fernández Domingos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4717-7984)
- Manh Hong Duong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4361-0795)
- Fernando Pereira dos Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2310-6444)
- Alessio Buscemi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2762-4123)
- Ali Kashif Bashir (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2601-9327)
- António B. Fernandes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6526-9903)
- Simon T. Powers
- Nataliya Balabanova
Institutions
- University of Stirling (GB)
- Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores Investigação e Desenvolvimento (PT)
- Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
- University of Trento (IT)
- Hospital Prof. Dr. Fernando Fonseca (PT)
- Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LU)
- University of Birmingham (GB)
- Teesside University (GB)
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ALIFE
- Published
- 2025-10-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1162/isal.a.918
- Primary Topic
- Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Future of Life Institute
- European Commission
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council