Do the benefits of AI outweigh the risks?
Most CEOs surveyed (78 percent) agree that the advantages of deploying artificial intelligence overshadow the hazards, according to Gartner. However, it’s undeniable that there are possible downsides to deploying AI.
If you’re a business leader who’s already leveraging AI or if you plan to do so soon, you must understand the potential drawbacks and how to combat them. Here are six significant AI risks you should be aware of and steps you can take to mitigate them.
1. Environmental harm.
In 2023, Gartner’s CEO survey showed that environmental issues rank among chief executives’ top 10 priorities for the first time in the survey’s history, according to a Gartner press release. However, while deploying AI is advantageous for businesses, it isn’t beneficial for the environment: By 2030, Gartner predicts that AI could consume as much as 3.5 percent of the world’s electricity.
Business leaders should take action to compensate for the considerable amount of water and electricity AI investment will deplete, Gartner VP Analyst Pieter den Hamer advised in the release: “Executives should be cognizant of AI’s own growing environmental footprint and take active mitigation measures. For example, they could prioritize (cloud) data centers powered by renewable energy.”
2. Employee misuse.
Leaders must identify adverse outcomes from the usage of generative AI and establish rules for employees concerning acceptable usage of the technology, according to Gartner.
For example, that could include prohibiting your staff members from feeding sensitive information into public AI solutions like ChatGPT, stated Stuart Strome, director of research in the Gartner Legal, Risk and Compliance Practice.
3. Hallucinations and inaccuracies.
It’s also prudent to require human employees to review all AI-generated content to avoid publishing inaccurate material. For instance, CNET tested an internally developed AI engine only to find that many of the stories it generated contained factual errors. The mistakes ranged from minor issues like vague language and transposed numbers to more significant problems like plagiarism that CNET’s checker tool didn’t flag.
The bottom line is that you shouldn’t send AI-written content out into the world unless a human edits and fact-checks it first.
4. Perpetuation of biases on a massive scale.
AI learns to perform its designated functions by identifying patterns in large datasets. Subsequently, flawed data fed can result in biased programs, according to the TechTarget article “15 AI risks businesses must confront and how to address them.”
Prejudiced actions also have the potential to make more of an impact coming from artificial intelligence than humans due to the higher productivity levels of AI, the TechTarget article explains. For example, in the time it would take a human employee to make the same error during a dozen interactions, an AI system could perform the misstep millions of times. Companies must create policies that require ongoing monitoring to identify and combat biases in AI systems.
5. Compliance issues.
Regulatory bodies worldwide are considering laws that pertain to the usage of AI. In the U.S. alone, numerous states have introduced artificial intelligence legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Companies will need to maintain awareness of new regulations as they take effect and adjust their AI strategies to ensure compliance, according to TechTarget. If you aren’t already routinely reviewing your AI solutions (including artificial intelligence embedded in solutions and services purchased from third-party providers), you should do so periodically to make sure they don’t violate AI regulations.
6. Information security risks.
Aside from helping cybercriminals supercharge phishing campaigns, generative AI tools that collect data via queries create new data breach risks, according to the Built In article “12 Risks and Dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI).” For instance, a ChatGPT bug allowed some users to view titles from others’ chat histories last year.
As mentioned earlier in this blog entry, it’s wise to create policies that prohibit feeding proprietary and sensitive data to artificial intelligence solutions.
Ultimately, business leaders must achieve an in-depth understanding of the risks associated with AI and craft policies and controls to mitigate them. As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, so will the potential pitfalls.
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