Artificial Intelligence surpassing human knowledge of individuals: Examining privacy in an era of intimate automation
In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, AI assistants have become an integral part of many people's daily lives. However, concerns about privacy and the handling of sensitive data have emerged as significant issues.
A key concern is the extensive collection, tracking, and sharing of personal data by AI assistants, often without adequate transparency or user consent. This practice raises serious issues related to unauthorized profiling, personalization, cross-site tracking, and potential breaches of privacy laws or companies’ own terms of service.
For instance, AI browser assistants are known to collect and transmit full webpage content, including sensitive information like banking or health details, without clear disclosure or opt-in. This data collection enables extensive profiling and personalized behaviors, which can lead to risks such as commercial manipulation or even extortion.
However, it's important to note that not all AI assistants behave equally. Some, like Perplexity AI, show less evidence of invasive data practices.
Policymakers and privacy advocates are calling for greater transparency, stronger user control over data collection, and the development of protective technologies to ensure privacy safeguards. They emphasize the need for robust privacy legislation enforcement and transparency standards specifically tailored to AI assistants due to their unprecedented access to personal data.
Academic researchers, including those at Duke University, are collaborating on designing privacy-preserving AI models and technologies to inform future regulatory approaches.
In addition to these concerns, the legal landscape for AI conversations in the context of incapacity and succession is uneven or silent on many topics. Policymakers can clarify the roles of AI assistant history and digital likenesses in these areas. Courts and authorities may be able to order AI assistant platforms to release specific conversations for criminal investigations, civil discovery, employer audits, or regulatory oversight.
Individuals can take steps to protect their privacy as well. They should strip personal information from prompts or rephrase them to avoid identifying them with specific people when using AI assistants. It's also advisable to become informed about the security and access rules that may apply to different platforms.
Policymakers can consider adopting a set of default rules that overrule platforms' terms of service, based on the our website AI Principles, which can guide requirements for platforms to give users easy access to privacy settings, the ability to opt out of data retention, and the option to easily export conversation history.
Moreover, policymakers can participate in standardisation efforts across jurisdictions regarding AI assistant data. They should put forth clear standards for AI providers to abide by regarding user data, and encourage or mandate strong encryption for conversation histories and standard data retention practices.
As the use of AI assistants continues to grow, it's crucial that both individuals and policymakers remain vigilant in addressing privacy concerns. By working together, we can ensure that the benefits of AI are enjoyed while maintaining the privacy and security of its users.
References:
[1] Solove, D. (2021). The Future of Privacy. Harvard University Press.
[2] Zhou, Y., & Li, S. (2020). The Privacy Risks of AI: A Survey. IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, 20(6), 839-852.
[3] Schwartzapfel, E. (2021). The Privacy Implications of AI Assistants. The New Yorker.
[4] European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (2020). AI Ethics Guidelines.
[5] Duke University Research Team (2021). Privacy-Preserving AI Models: A Study. Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Privacy, Security, and Social Networks.
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