The Dangers of Artificial Intelligence: Privacy Concerns and the Threat of Discrimination
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming a part of our daily lives. From voice-activated assistants like Siri and Alexa to autonomous cars and drones, AI technology is rapidly infiltrating every aspect of modern living. While this technology offers many benefits, including increased efficiency and convenience, there are also significant concerns around privacy and potential discrimination. In this article, we explore these issues and the real-life implications of AI on people's lives.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
Before delving into the concerns around AI, it's essential to understand what it is. Simply put, AI refers to the ability of machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving, decision-making, and natural language processing. At its core, AI relies on big data and algorithms to automate and streamline processes, making it faster and more efficient than traditional methods. Examples of AI in action include facial recognition technology, recommendation algorithms used by Netflix, and chatbots on customer service websites.
Privacy Concerns
While AI technology offers many benefits, including increased efficiency and convenience, privacy concerns are becoming widespread. With a vast amount of data generated by AI, it raises questions around how it is collected, stored, and used. Massive data breaches, such as the one experienced by Equifax in 2017, illustrate the dangers of data misuse by bad actors. Equifax's breach compromised the personal information of nearly 147 million people, including social security numbers, birth dates, and addresses.
An additional privacy concern is the use of facial recognition technology, which has been widely adopted by law enforcement and corporations. When used correctly, this technology can increase efficiency and detection accuracy, such as identifying criminals or improving the in-store shopping experience. However, if used recklessly, facial recognition technology can lead to significant privacy violations and discrimination.
One real-life exemplar of this was the controversy around Clearview AI, which compiled a database of over three billion faces scraped from various social media platforms without consent. This includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, among others. This blatant disregard for personal data privacy raises critical concerns about the potential for the misuse of such data and the wider implications on people's security.
Discrimination
The second pressing concern with AI is the potential for discrimination. AI algorithms are only as impartial as the data they are trained on, which inherently carries biases ingrained in societal and cultural norms, which result from centuries of systemic racism and bias.
Facial recognition technology, for example, is notoriously biased against people of color and women. A study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) which analyzed different facial recognition algorithms found that they are up to 100 times more likely to misidentify people of color as compared to white individuals. Another study shows that the Amazon facial recognition systems exhibited "disparities in error rates" particularly between darker-skinned individuals and lighter-skinned individuals. This flaw in facial recognition technology can lead to wrongful arrests, particularly for black and brown individuals.
Biases ingrained in artificial intelligence technology are not limited to image recognition alone. A different algorithm trained to evaluate loan applications denied women at twice the rate of men. Another example of bias is the high stakes employment policies, such as hiring or firing decisions made entirely by algorithms, which can perpetuate systemic biases and/or amplify them.
Eradicating Bias in AI
Addressing and eliminating bias in artificial intelligence is going to require a holistic approach within society. NGOs are already initiating important work to promote equity and impartiality, to name a few, AI Now, Data for black lives and the Algorithmic Justice League.
On the commercial front, there are steps being taken to limit the use of biased AI algorithms. One example is the White House's ban on using facial recognition technology by federal law enforcement agencies. The ban seeks to limit abuses of facial recognition technology by regulating where and how it is implemented.
However, it's not enough to rely solely on regulatory authorities to tackle the bias in AI. People in positions of power within corporations need to undertake a more significant responsibility to ensure all AI tools and measures are impartial. This is vital when considering the role of algorithms and who is able to control this technology's implementation. For example, if there is a lack of diversity within the AI development team, there is a high chance that the algorithmic decisions and outcomes will perpetuate existing biases and prejudices.
Conclusion
AI is a powerful tool that enables efficiency, convenience, and innovation like never before. However, there exist serious concerns around privacy violations and discrimination. The information we have provided offers a snapshot of the consequences of AI, which can have real-life implications like the wrongful arrest of innocent individuals, be it conscious or unconscious biases, causing significant harm to our society.
To leverage the full benefits of AI technology while minimising its negative effects, all parties involved, from developers and corporations to the government and the wider society members, must work together to identify and eliminate biases in AI tools and policies. The tech industry has implemented measures to prioritize inclusivity considering its people working on this script, but these actions must continue at every level of the supply chain to guarantee the benefits of AI are attainable for everyone.
