As businesses embrace generative AI, a new concern looms over the horizon: data privacy. According to a recent Deloitte research report, many IT and business professionals worry that adopting this powerful technology could inadvertently expose critical business and personal data.
In a survey of 1,848 business and technology professionals, data privacy emerged as the top ethical concern tied to generative AI. Nearly 75% of respondents placed data privacy among their three biggest worries, with 40% identifying it as their number one concern—a significant jump from 25% in 2023.
What’s Driving These GenAI Data Privacy Concerns?
Generative AI, which uses machine learning and neural networks to generate content, is fundamentally changing how companies operate. This technology “collapses the expertise barrier,” making it easier for non-technical staff to leverage data for business purposes, according to Sachin Kulkarni, Managing Director at Deloitte. While this democratization of data is undoubtedly beneficial, it also increases the risk of data leakage and privacy violations.
Respondents flagged concerns about transparency, data provenance, intellectual property (IP) ownership, and the potential for AI hallucinations. This is when AI generates inaccurate or misleading information. Surprisingly, job displacement, often cited as a major worry, was only flagged by 16% of respondents.
Cognitive Technologies Pose Ethical Risks but Also Potential for Doing Good
Generative AI falls within the broader category of cognitive technologies, which include large language models, machine learning, and neural networks. These technologies were seen by more than half of respondents as the ones with the greatest ethical risks. In fact, cognitive technologies surpassed other emerging fields like digital reality, autonomous vehicles, and robotics in this regard. I thought robotics would be at the top.
However, the Deloitte report also highlighted a silver lining: while these technologies pose ethical challenges, they also hold the most potential for driving social good. By automating tasks, improving decision-making, and generating new ideas, cognitive technologies can help businesses innovate in ways that benefit society at large. Education and Healthcare will see huge advances and will provide equitable opportunity to underserved communities.
Cybersecurity Risks and Expanding Attack Surfaces
A major concern shared by many IT executives is how generative AI tools could expand an organization’s cybersecurity attack surface. Generative AI relies heavily on data to function, making it an attractive target for cybercriminals. According to another survey conducted by Flexential, a significant portion of business leaders are worried about how this increased reliance on data might lead to more cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Top 5 AI Data Privacy and Security Concerns in Generative AI
As we continue to see rapid advancements in AI, it’s important to stay mindful of the key privacy and security risks posed by generative AI technologies:
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Data Leakage – As more people within organizations use AI tools to access and manipulate data, there’s an increased risk of sensitive information being inadvertently exposed.
- Bias and Discrimination: Generative AI models trained on biased datasets can perpetuate harmful stereotypes, leading to discriminatory outcomes.
- Transparency and Explainability: The complexity of AI models makes it hard to explain how decisions are made, raising ethical questions about accountability and fairness.
- Cybersecurity Threats: AI-generated content and tools can open new avenues for cyberattacks, increasing the organization’s vulnerability.
- IP Ownership and Content Authenticity: Determining the ownership of AI-generated content and ensuring the authenticity of data becomes a critical issue as these tools proliferate.
