The tech tightrope: protecting privacy in an AI-powered world

One of the four main themes at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos was ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a driving force for the economy and society’. There were between 10 and 15 sessions that were at least about AI, if not exclusively focused on this highly influential technology. While many of these panels highlighted the potential benefits of generative AI and large language models (LLM) for sectors such as fintech, health research and climate science, an even greater emphasis was placed on concerns about the widespread reach of AI into our personal lives and the potential consequences .

For AI to be effective, it needs enormous amounts of data from which it trains itself. Positive outcomes include deep learning models that can recognize complex patterns to make accurate predictions, enabling biometrics for homeland security and protection against financial fraud, for example. The most common use of emerging AI today is in big data algorithms for targeted advertising and real-time translation applications, which are constantly improving through further expanded data pools.