Dominik Samociuk, PhD, Head of Security at Future Processing
In today’s market, businesses welcome the benefits AI can bring when completing monotonous, time-consuming tasks and increasing business-wide efficiency. But learning and adapting to AI has become difficult, due to how much information and guidance is available.
This means specialist companies have to dedicate time and resources to help businesses deliberate where, when and if AI should be implemented into their operations. Furthermore, they can offer services from bespoke AI software building, right through to solution delivery.
Dwindling trust between employers and employees
Introducing AI into a workplace poses some hurdles between employers and employees, as it can breed a potential for lack of transparency, risk of security breaches and the feeding of sensitive data into AI platforms.
An important factor of employees using AI is to always inform the business of when, where, and why they are using AI. Using AI carelessly can result in unintentional critical data leaks. To ensure employees are utilising AI correctly, businesses should introduce thorough best-practice guidelines and implement workshops to account for employees’ understanding of the risks AI poses and how to best use the tool to optimise its benefits.
In an effort to strengthen employee trust, businesses must also ensure there is a sound level of operational strategies and guidelines in place to ensure a consistent approach is undertaken with employees, across all departments and locations. Whilst AI increases task efficiency for employees, companies can run the risk of isolating employees with micro-managing, negatively affecting employees and their productivity levels.
EU AI regulations and the potential threats
Whilst AI brings benefits to businesses through efficiency, regulators are beginning to notice that AI is developing faster than policymakers can keep up. According to Tractica, the AI market is set to grow by 33% in 2024, while between 2021 and 2022, the AI market was projected to grow only by 47%. This upward trajectory was forecast to continue year-over-year – increasing by at least 26% each year until 2025. With most technological developments, regulators can process policies before it is widely adopted in the market; however, with artificial intelligence, policymakers are creating regulations and guidelines parallel to AI’s advancement.
Many AI pioneers have stated the government should not intervene with the developments, regulations and growth of AI as they believe any changes made will be restrictive to the technology’s full potential. In Pew Research Center’s recent research, it uncovered that 42% of experts were equally excited and concerned about the changes in the “humans-plus-tech” evolution they expect to see by 2035, while 37% said they are more concerned than excited about the changes they expect. Although businesses can leverage the technology, experts are reminding companies about the importance of the human touch across their operations.
Risks: Deepfakes and GenAI within scams, cybersecurity, and misinformation
Combating misinformation and mitigating the risks AI poses has become a critical priority for businesses and regulators. In a world where GenAI exists, businesses are at risk of phishing and social engineering attacks. As it can produce false texts, images and other sources of media, users can manipulate businesses and the government into gaining the trust of the public to acquire private user data – resulting in fraud, identity theft and data leaks.
Businesses must ensure regulatory compliance is met by employees, as those with malicious intent can use GenAI to breach security measures, manipulate information and generate materials not authorised by the business. To avoid employees accidentally or intentionally exposing sensitive information to GenAI, businesses must implement thorough workshops, guidelines and training sessions to restrict the usage of AI to an appropriate level.
Minimising the risks and reaping the benefits
Whilst AI is a relatively new technology, its rapid development and growth are to be handled with diligence and caution. The benefits of AI can increase businesses’ efficiency and productivity, whilst enabling employees to expand their technological knowledge. Companies must, however, make sure the appropriate guidelines are implemented to ensure employees follow the correct processes and ultimately protect the business data.
To empower their employees but still see the benefits of AI, businesses can combine the two to ensure fewer human errors. According to Forbes Advisor’s research, 42% of British employees are concerned that businesses’ dependence on AI will increase and result in a loss of human skills. By leveraging AI to help employees be more efficient, businesses can reap the benefits without falling behind their competitors, resulting in a helping hand and happy employees.
