Our world is far too connected these days, and with artificial intelligence (AI) everywhere, absolutely everywhere, perhaps even far more than the air.

It’s in our pockets, it’s in our homes and it’s watching us from every corner. But as AI gets smarter and smarter, it’s becoming too much of a presence, something we didn’t want. Find out how AI has changed privacy and surveillance, and what this means for our digital future.

What does AI privacy hide?

Do you remember a time when protecting your privacy stopped at drawing the curtains? It’s funny today because that’s all over.

Now that everything has gone digital, having a private life is a little more complicated, because you have to be vigilant all the time, you have to protect your personal data, it’s even become a complex dance of algorithms…. 

According to Digital Ocean, “AI privacy is the set of practices and concerns related to the collection, storage and ethical use of personal information by artificial intelligence systems”. This means that we have to make sure that AI isn’t a snoop and looking into what’s going on in our lives all the time without our permission.

What’s also funny is that AI needs data to function, a lot of it, so much so that you have no idea, but I’m not telling you anything. How ironic, don’t you think?

 As Digital Ocean points out,

“AI poses complex and multifaceted privacy challenges, different from those posed by traditional data processing”.

It’s like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in the bottom – you know the water will leak out. It’s the same thing with data: the more data we pour in, the more vulnerable we are to privacy breaches.

The AI surveillance revolution: Big Brother gets better after all!

AI surveillance, I’d say, is like having a security guard who never sleeps, who never rests and who watches absolutely everything you do. And maybe you see: wesh! That’s too cool to catch bad guys, right? Well, actually, it’s not quite that.

Forbes warns that “AI enables more detailed profiling and tracking of individuals’ activities, movements and behaviors than has ever been possible before.” Maybe if we gave the security guard x-ray vision, with the ability to read minds and a photographic memory, it would be a bit similar to what AI surveillance can do. At the same time, we could say goodbye to a private life.

But the situation is even more worrying. Forbes also notes that

“AI also facilitates the implementation of facial recognition technology, which can identify and track individuals based on their facial features, even in the real world. This technology is already used in public spaces, such as train stations or airports, and by law enforcement agencies.”

It’s a bit like the scenario where you’re walking down the street and every camera knows who you are,

where you’ve been and where you’re going. You live in a world where you feel like everyone knows your name but you don’t know their names. It feels weird, very weird.

 How AI is rewriting privacy laws

As you know, Artificial Intelligence is evolving very fast, so fast that our legal systems can’t keep up, and the gap is widening again and again.

According to the Executive Leader Network, “the legal framework for AI privacy protection varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In the European Union, the GDPR is the main legislation governing the protection of personal data.”

But that’s where nothing goes right, because if you think about it, artificial intelligence isn’t there to operate according to borders, it’s not there to respect them.

It operates on a global scale, so on a worldwide scale, whereas regulations are often local or national.

The Executive Leader Network adds,

“In addition to the GDPR, there are other regulations and guidelines that deal with specific aspects of privacy in AI. For example, the ePrivacy Directive regulates the use of electronic communication data, such as emails and text messages.”

But implementing these laws is the same as hitting a moving target, because by the time you adopt a new regulation, you find that AI has already leapt ahead. It’s literally a never-ending game of catch-up, an infinite loop, and for the moment, AI wins hands down.

 The impact of AI on personal data security 

Ah, the good old days, when all you were afraid of, the biggest threat to our privacy, was someone stealing your diary. Now that you’ve grown up and AI has arrived, personal data security has become a high-stakes game.

Digital Ocean warns, “The vast data sets that AI needs to function effectively are attractive targets for cyber threats, amplifying the risk of breaches that could compromise privacy.” 

But don’t imagine that’s all trouble. For example, AI can be used to reinforce what we have as digital defenses. As Digital Ocean points out,

“AI can help ensure data privacy by identifying and stopping unauthorized access or information leaks, complying with laws such as GDPR and securing confidential data using encryption techniques, including de-identification processes.”

 The ethical quagmire of AI surveillance

With great power comes great responsibility, I can’t remember which Spiderman movie I heard this line in but that’s not a problem because all you need to know is that in terms of ethics, the consequences are so many and at the same time real headaches.

The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) raises a notable point: “The process of going through each layer can create what is known as the ‘black box’ effect, making it difficult to understand and describe the steps that lead to a particular outcome.”

In other words, it can happen that even those who create AI systems can’t 100% understand how they work. I think it’s a bit like creating a Frankenstein and losing control of it, a downright terrifying prospect.

CIPESA adds its share of insight by noting that “AI raises issues of bias and discrimination in data processing, abusive data practices, dissemination of misinformation and disinformation, increased real-time surveillance and aggravation of cyber-attacks such as phishing”.

That’s a very funny perspective. Because the truth is, AI surveillance can also help us with real threats, just as it can be used to civil liberties and disrupt existing prejudices.

If we gave society a superpower, we could use it for good or evil. It really depends on who’s in charge.

What’s the most likely future situation, a glass house or a digital fortress?

I don’t think any of us want to live in a glass house, it doesn’t even make sense in terms of privacy in the home. And while we’re on the subject, what does the future hold for us in this new world where AI is gradually dominating? Will we find ways to build digital fortresses to further protect our data?

According to Digital Samba, “AI brings a lot of convenience into our lives; therefore, we need to find a way to reconcile AI and data privacy.” So it’s not possible to have butter and try to have the money from that butter.

We obviously want the benefits that AI offers but we much more than want to protect our privacy, we need it, which is why we may discover new ways to protect our data.

As Digital Ocean suggests, “federated learning (…) allows AI models to be trained on many devices or servers that are not connected. These machines have local data samples to use for training. In this way, private information can remain on the person’s device.”

But hey! We all know that the more sophisticated AI becomes, the more sophisticated the methods we use to violate privacy become, so while it’s certainly seductive this approach, I don’t think it’s something that could protect us in the long term, in 20 years for example, maybe even in five.

Does our Dear AI have a role in government surveillance?

I’m not telling you anything, we all know that every government seeks to monitor its population, or already does, it depends on your country.

But what if the government uses AI too? It’s like leaving a magnifying glass and using a Hubble telescope: I’m telling you! Suddenly, everything’s a lot…neater!

CIPESA warns that AI gives more power in terms of the ability to monitor in real time, and that’s not good at all because we could end up with public authorities controlling us in a more intrusive way.

It reminds me of George Orwell’s 1984, but with technology that even Orwell couldn’t have imagined.

The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) adds another perspective: “Current and future use cases for AI in government remain limited by resources, technical capabilities and public trust. Some of the most immediate beneficial opportunities for the public sector are those where AI can reduce administrative burdens and help solve resource allocation problems.”

You know what the price of convenience is?

Remember that one about if it’s free then you’re the product? And that’s fine in the sense that as consumers,we’ve become accustomed to trading our data for services, whether it’s with targeted ads on FACEBOOK or an algorithm that stuffs us full of mind-numbing content like Tiktok.

But if AI enters the big leagues, we risk giving away even more, far more than we’d ever hoped.

Digital Ocean warns that “predictive analytics… can infer personal behaviors and preferences, often without the individual’s knowledge or consent”. 

This has real consequences for what we are allowed to do or not do in our private lives. Do we have the right to keep everything we do in the future private?

And what about what we think or prefer? These kinds of questions are ones we can’t answer now, or perhaps only with difficulty, the time will come when we won’t have to or won’t be able to.

Forbes adds another layer to this concern: “AI-based surveillance technology can, for example, be used for targeted marketing and advertising purposes.” 

So not only can we be monitored, but they’ll try to sell us products based on what we see. And I think that already exists.

If you walk past a louis-vuiton store, for example, and in the past you’ve done a lot of research on louis-vuiton items you might get a notification that says you’re next to a louis-vuiton store, so this and that.

And I don’t know anyone who likes this kind of functionality, it really doesn’t make you want this kind of thing.

Can we tame the digital beast?

It’s not so simple to find a balance between the benefits AI could offer us and what it can do negatively in terms of privacy. It’s a big challenge, and a dangerous one too, just like riding a unicycle while juggling flaming torches.

Digital Samba suggests that “solutions such as data anonymization, which removes all personal data from the information used by AI, can help”.

It may be a solution, but it’s not really, because remember that AI is getting more sophisticated and smarter, so it’s only natural that it will get better at de-anonymizing data.

According to Forbes, “It’s widely accepted that AI tools enable people to create content – text, images, videos and more can be created quickly using AI. But these tools can also be used to track and profile individuals.”

Let’s get to the point. What role does AI play in cyber security?

Apart from being an enemy to our privacy, AI can be used to combat cybercrime.

As Digital Ocean points out, “AI can help prevent malware by analyzing code and identifying malicious patterns in order to develop more effective antivirus software”.

That may or may not be true! Has it occurred to anyone that cybercriminals can also use AI? In any case, each side is trying to outdo the other as best it can.

 The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) notes, “As the output of each layer becomes the input to the next, it can become increasingly difficult to understand the decisions and inferences made at each level.”

AI and data breaches 

It’s not the data breach that’s a new concept – we’ve had it for every meal with Facebook – but maybe AI can do something about it.

Digital Ocean warns: “Volume and variety of data. AI systems can digest and analyze exponentially more data than traditional systems, increasing the risk of personal data exposure.”

You know! AI isn’t just about dangers, it’s true that it’s not the best friend for our privacy but it’s going to depend on who’s going to use it and for what purpose.

If it’s Meta using it, you know what to expect. If it’s Oracle, you also know what to expect. And so here, we know that it can help us detect data breaches and prevent them at the same time.

 AI privacy in different sectors: one size doesn’t fit all

In the healthcare sector, for example, AI can help improve patient outcomes, but it also deals with highly sensitive personal data.

As Digital Ocean points out, “ensuring patient privacy should be a top priority for any AI deployment in the healthcare sector, in order to use data ethically and within the bounds of regulations such as HIPAA.”

In the financial sector, AI is used for fraud detection and prevention. According to Digital Ocean, “in real time, machine learning models analyze transaction data and identify patterns associated with fraudulent transactions.”

The future of privacy in AI: 

What does the future hold? Nobody knows, what does AI have in store for us? No one really knows even if they claim to know by saying it will replace us, take over our world, serve as our assistant, all its contradictions prove that we really don’t know what AI has in store for us. It’s moving so fast, and so will our approach to privacy.

Digital Ocean suggests that “quantum computing […] could improve AI’s data security skills, making encryption sorting and threat detection easier and faster. But it also poses new problems, as the old way of preserving information security may no longer work.”

 Conclusion: 

It’s hard to say, but it has to be said: protecting life is far too stressful, it feels like all these technological advances are helping us, but it also feels like they’re dragging us down even further, and if AI could be used intelligently for once and help us protect ourselves better, that would be great!

Right now, what can we do apart from being vigilant, informed and, above all, human? A lot of other things, because in truth, the future of AI privacy is in our hands, although I’m not saying we can change the world.

MAll we can do is make sure we build an environment where AI serves humanity, not the other way around. After all, we want to be the masters of our own destiny, we want to control what’s ours, not be enslaved by what we’ve created. 

In fact, when we talk about protecting our privacy, we’re not just talking about keeping secrets, we’re also talking about keeping our individuality and

humanity, what makes us unique, in the face of a technology that’s advancing really fast. Just keep your wits about you!