I get asked a great deal about AI. Should we use it? What is it, is it secure, and how do we know? I cannot claim to be an engineer or the world’s foremost authority on AI, but I can tell you what I do know.
First, I would ask you some simple questions. What is the concern here? Often in the work context, it is security. So let’s think about security in IT and the workplace. What does NEW provide in that area, for instance?
Let’s start with our staff using work-owned, monitored devices for work and workplace data access, or are they sometimes using personal devices that are potentially at risk? Are they accessing personal things on work devices? Are they always on a secure network when accessing organization data? Do you have monitoring and security endpoint detection in place? Do you have SIEM and XDR? Are your organization’s devices up to date on all their software and firmware? Are your organizational devices running secure modern hardware?
What are your policies concerning these behaviors? Do you have IT policies or Financial policies for the organization that require the user to be aware of them and sign off on their understanding of them? Are they reviewed frequently? Do you have a policy about the use of AI on work devices and accessing organizational data? Who is reviewing the AI applications that might be used?
What browsers are your staff using, and are they up to date? While we can limit admin access to prevent staff from installing software, these days, apps and add-ons or extensions to browsers don’t require that level of security to be installed. What are your staff doing in this regard, and do you have policies around it?
Are your staff getting trained on how to spot scams and phishing? Are they doing that training? Is it mandatory that they do this?
NEW and our security partner, Judy, can help you to make sure all these questions are answered in a secure posture and work diligently to ensure your security. While there are never guarantees it may be that it is just too much to try to navigate on your own. The threats are constantly evolving, becoming more sophisticated, and changing. Partnering with security experts like Judy helps us to be on the edge of these.
However, without good policies, adherence to policies, and training, there can always be unintentional lapses. Everyone is doing their best, but we are also all under a lot of stress in a world that is chaotic at best right now.
And it is fair to say that nonprofits are often seen as easy targets with rich data and not enough funding to properly protect themselves.
So now you want to talk about AI. First, let me say that back when I first got into computers back in the 90s, I had a belief in the idea that technology could be used for the benefit of humankind. That by providing easy access to knowledge and information could tear away some inequities and make us all better people. Connecting people of different areas, beliefs, and knowledge would make us all stronger together.
However, with the rise of privatization and monetization of the internet and access to information, it has not ended up the way many of us hoped it could be. Then add in the social media and proliferation of misinformation and just plain hateful rhetoric. It can be a scary place.
Now take AI. One of the things about AI is that it has to be trained. Creating and training these models takes a lot of resources. But we will get to data centers in a minute. Who and what is training this AI? We could take a look at the unethical and immoral practices of going into poverty-stricken areas and offering low wages for people to train AI. We can look at what is out there on the internet now that AI is learning from. It is rife with bias and misinformation. How is this being mitigated? How is it being regulated?
Developers are in a race and often looking away from potential hazards in order to keep moving forward in that race.
Then there are the data centers. The amount of natural resources that are being required to keep growing these is dangerous. Its impact on the environment that is already in peril and on the humans and other life that lives here is also dangerous.
Then there is the learning. Humans require their brains to work to learn. We require reading and thinking to continue to grow. What might we be taking away from young people’s ability to learn and develop critical thinking skills? How might it be leading to declines in older folks?
So should you use AI?
I know there can or could be benefits to it in the same way I thought about the internet in the early days. These things can be life-changing for the better. Do I believe they will be? Not so much anymore. I wish it would be, though.
Think about all of these things before you use AI. Then, in your organization, develop your policies and decide on your rules and methods of protecting your data. What access is it being given? What happens with what you give it access to? Can you review that information and remove things you don’t want out there? How much control do you have over it?
Once you have your policies then start reviewing the potential tools to find out if it fits within your scope of safety and security. Don’t trade convenience for risk.
And ask others you connect with if they are also putting the same constraints in place. Know before you share.
And always go to your IT support team for assistance. That is what they are there for.
