[ad_1]
All major technology companies from Google to Meta, Microsoft and Apple are integrating Generative AI into their online services.
The recent integration of Google’s chat-based AI tool, Bard, with several Google apps and services is an example of bringing generative AI directly into consumer lives through text, image, and voice interactions. Bundled with everything from Gmail, Docs and Drive to Google Maps, YouTube, Google Flights and Hotels, Bard has the ability to act as a super-charged version of Google Assistant, collecting massive amounts of data online. but personalizes responses based on individual user data. , all while working in conversational, natural-language mode. Summarizing emails, booking trips, making shopping lists – anything that can be done by a personal assistant – for those who don’t have a personal assistant.
Following 2023’s huge leap in public consciousness about generative AI, next year individuals and businesses will make even more decisions with AI at the center. A good example: how people travel. With the concept of an intelligent concierge transforming consumer searches, payments and decisions, generative AI will move from a behind-the-scenes driver of efficiency to the foreground. “It will make trips more accessible, with a fully voice-enabled chatbot offering instant translation and acting on a traveler’s behalf,” said Eduardo Schutte, senior vice president at global travel technology company Amadeus.
For planning, the process will be like talking to a travel agent, but with access to an almost unlimited amount of data, data that can be instantly searched and Align with the person. Beyond simple data points like price and date, more holistic concepts like intent will enter into the search process. “With generative AI, visit purpose, expectations, willingness to pay, and more can be more easily identified through chatbot conversations,” Schutte said.
Conversations will not end during travels. Coming to a fork in the road on a hiking trail, a user can take a picture of the signage and ask Google Bard which path is better for someone arriving with an already tired eight-year-old. Is. “Content will be tailored to what the traveler is looking for, while conversational generator AI chatbots will be used to ask the right questions to understand the traveler’s preferences,” Schutte said.
But with the increasing use of AI and the ease of incorporating it into daily life for personal benefit, concerns about consumer privacy are receiving renewed attention. At the most basic level, tools like Bard and their ability to improve the online shopping experience through personalized recommendations and streamlined product searches can pose potential security risks, according to Tal Zamir, CTO of cybersecurity company Perception Point. “The deeper integration of AI into users’ data raises concerns about unauthorized access and misuse, making it important for buyers to balance convenience with data security measures,” Zamir said.
By now, after being on the Internet for decades, consumers should realize this and take the security measures that are available. And for the most part, consumers have accepted the risks in favor of the obvious rewards.
“Consumers who use Bard are giving up some of their personal data in exchange for the benefits of the tool,” Zamir said.
The use of AI in online experiences has already been growing for years, even if not as transparent to the consumer as particular Gen AI tools.
Max Starkov, a hospitality and online travel industry technologist, consultant and digital strategist, said while Google has been using AI in search algorithms for years, consumers have not particularly focused on AI-related opt-in provisions. He says AI-generated results are the next step in the world of “zero click” search results that Google has been getting closer to in recent years. “Google is already implementing General AI behind the scenes to improve the accuracy of its ‘no click required’ answer boxes,” he said.
Whether ChatGPT – which is also tackling questions of data exploitation – or Google, Gen AI models have progressed from early on being trained on “dead” data to gaining more knowledge from the ever-evolving Internet and real-life search and path behavior. Moving towards. the user. Online shopping and travel booking is a repository of individual user psychology and preferences, with aspirations and goals layered into seemingly innocuous research for a new camping tent.
What did you discover? When did you discover? Was the answer box sufficient to answer your question/query or did you click on a link? Which link in the SERPs (search engine results pages) you clicked on.
Searching for camping gear Someone who has done a lot of research before on Star Wars and climate change might recommend a durable expedition bag featuring Han Solo. Or someone planning a trip to Florida might find an Airbnb near the Hemingway House that’s ordered “A Farewell to Arms” or “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
Google is positioning Bard as a complement to online search rather than a new enhanced version of it. “A creative collaboration,” a Google spokesperson said, adding that it is being used in ways that are different from the way people typically find information with Google Search.,
“People are coming to Bard for help with all kinds of projects — like writing resumes, creating workout routines and planning dream vacations,” she said.
The company says it’s also clear about the security of personal information, with the content of Gmail, Docs, and Drive “not viewed by human reviewers, used by Bard to show you ads, or to train Bard models.” to be done.”
And the spokesperson said users are in control of privacy settings – deciding how to use these extensions, including the ability to turn them off at any time.
Internet privacy watchdogs remain vigilant.
For Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization—which has been tracking the Internet from a consumer privacy perspective since the 1990s—the latest AI is an extension of a business model that It has been more or less the same for decades. Chester said, clearly, AI has many positive impacts, for example, in health innovation. “But fundamentally, this is another breaking of the glass in terms of privacy, identity and autonomy,” he said. And its powers of persuasion make it even more important to focus on the consumer business. Implicit in the corporate vision is that AI will understand you better than ever before, potentially reshaping society, “and what you buy and consume,” he said.
In Google’s case, some old privacy scores have just been settled. Regulators continue to undertake a wide range of new work on the underlying issues. The FTC began the “commercial surveillance” rulemaking process in late 2022, with an update expected in the first quarter of 2024. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing rules to rein in data brokers. President Biden’s executive order on AI also calls on regulators to take action.
But Chester, who speaks directly to FTC officials, and describes the current leadership as notable for “pushing privacy forward,” says that despite significant regulatory promise from FTC and CFPB efforts, AI and privacy are yet “on the map.” “She hasn’t come. The way it should be.
Chester said, “I don’t see it as a new innovative approach, but rather as a continued evolution in the interest of companies and advertisers to make it known who you are and what you’re doing.” “AI will take over all of this.”
Consumers always have choices – like deleting cookies, privacy-aware browsers – but practically speaking, most individuals accept what they get in exchange for sharing. Chester said, “This is the original sin of the Internet and it is too late for all digital sinners to repent.” “Who will say, ‘I don’t want my supermarket to have data, so I can’t get discounts? Or Waze, so I don’t know where the pharmacy is?’ Chester said.
According to Zamir, the Bard extension is expected to become even more personalized and integrated with the online shopping experience, including automatically filling out checkout forms, tracking shipments, and automatically comparing prices. All this involves risk, he said, including unauthorized access to personal and financial information during the automated form-filling process, malicious interception of real-time tracking information and even possible manipulation of price comparison data.
“The benefits of Bard must be weighed against the potential dark consequences, and consumers should exercise caution and prioritize their privacy before adopting Bard or other AI-powered tools,” Zamir said.