In the Modern Tower of Babel: Why Facts and Evidence Matter

In the original fable of the Tower of Babel, as punishment for attempting to build a tower into the heavens, the people were relegated to an inability to communicate, each speaking a different language. Hence the term "to Babel."

The Modern Tower of Babel refers not to multiple languages but to the increasing spread of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news. We are increasingly disadvantaged in our ability to establish fact from fiction and truth from lies. This confusion is leading to the chaos we now see across many aspects of society: In medicine, should we vaccinate our children or not? In the health of our environment, are global warming and climate change a reality, or are they a hoax? And, of course, in politics, where anything seems permissible and truth is often discarded in favor of retaining power.

But all is not lost. If we are smart enough to use modern technologies; such as AI; intelligently and with proper regulation, we can harness the wealth of information available to us and leverage modern tools to distinguish fact from fiction and rigorously evaluate evidence. But that will only happen if we use AI properly, and given our current course, that outcome is far from assured.

Dr. Mark J. Poznansky was born and educated in Montreal where he received his Ph.D. from McGill University in 1970. He held senior research and administrative positions at Harvard Medical School, the College de France in Paris, The University of Alberta where he rose to the position of Associate Dean of Medicine, and the Robarts Research Institute in London Ontario where he was President and CEO. He moved to Toronto in 2007 to head up the Ontario Genomics Institute, retiring in 2017. Over the course of his career, he has served on many public and private boards including a stint on the MERCK USA Scientific Advisory Leadership Board.

In recognition of his leadership, Mark has been awarded both the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada.

He is the author of 3 books: Saved by Science: The hope and Promise of Synthetic Biology (2020), The Giving Tree; A Metaphor for Climate Change (2023) and Reminiscences (2023).