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AI systems, while offering immense potential, are also vulnerable to attacks and data manipulation. From the digital to the physical, it is crucial to integrate security and reliability into the development and deployment of AI. From AI sovereignty to attack and failure training, AI of the future will become a matter of national security.
SwissCognitive Guest Blogger: Eleanor Wright, COO at TelWAI – “Fortifying the Future: Ensuring Secure and Reliable AI”
As such, we should ask: How do we fortify AI?
AI systems must be designed to withstand attacks. From decentralisation to layering, these systems should be constructed so that control points can seamlessly enter and exit the loop without disabling the broader system. Thus, building redundancy and backup at various control points within the AI systems. For example, suppose a sensor or a group of sensors is deemed to have failed or been corrupted. In that case, the broader system must be capable of automatically readjusting to stop utilising data and intelligence gathered from said sensors.
Another strategy for strengthening AI systems involves simulating data poisoning attacks and training AI systems to detect such threats. By teaching the systems to recognise and respond to attacks or failures, they can automatically reconfigure without the need for human intervention. If an AI can learn to identify tainted data, such as statistical anomalies or inconsistent patterns, it could flag or quarantine suspect inputs. This approach leans heavily on machine learning’s strengths: pattern recognition and adaptability. However, it’s not a failsafe; adversaries could evolve their attacks to more closely mimic legitimate data, so the training would need to be dynamic, constantly updating to match new threat profiles.
Maintaining a human in the loop to enable oversight and override is considered one of the most crucial elements in the rollout of AI in various industries. Allowing humans to oversee AI decision-making and restricting autonomy can prevent potentially harmful actions taken by these systems. Whilst critical in the early stages of AI deployment as capabilities scale and evolve, there may come a point where human oversight inhibits these systems and, in itself, causes more harm than good.
Finally, AI sovereignty may prove to be the most critical element in ensuring companies and governments fully control essential algorithms and hardware powering their operations. Without this control, these systems could be vulnerable to foreign interference, including cyberattacks, espionage, or sabotage. As the use of AI increases, the sovereignty of AI systems and their components will become increasingly important. At its core, AI sovereignty is about control, whether exercised by governments, corporations, or individuals. Through the control of data, infrastructure, and decision-making power, those who build and deploy AI systems and sensors gain control of AI.
Fortification will involve integrating resilience, adaptability, and sovereignty into AI’s DNA, ensuring it is not only intelligent but also resilient and unbreakable. It can provide technological advantages, but it may also expose systems to disruption and vulnerability exploitation. As organisations race to harness AI’s potential, the question looms: Will AI enable organisations to gain a strategic advantage, or will it undermine the very systems it was designed to strengthen?
About the Author:
Holding a BA in Marketing and an MSc in Business Management, Eleanor Wright has over eleven years of experience working in the surveillance sector across multiple business roles.
Der Beitrag Fortifying the Future: Ensuring Secure and Reliable AI erschien zuerst auf SwissCognitive | AI Ventures, Advisory & Research.
