My concerns with generative AI
I'm thinking that my previous blog post, AI in Firefox, might have been a little negative and it may have given the impression that I have issues with large language models and AI. To be clear, I have a ChatGPT Team account at work and I use it every now-and-again. I find it useful for coding and running general queries, but I don't rely on it. It's a nice to have, but I can happily live without it. With that said, I do have some concerns about the technology.
My first concern is with data privacy and how the training data is collected/harvested/pillaged. It's clear that training data has historically been obtained without permission and without providing any compensation to its creators. How am I supposed to know if my data will be used? Are my GitHub private repositories being used? Are my private Gmail/Outlook messages being used? What about my work documents stored in OneDrive? Stuff like this is a concern.
My second concern is with energy usage and the damage it may be doing to the environment. By all accounts, training AI models takes vast amounts of computational power, which uses large amounts of energy. In day-to-day individual use, such as running queries against the models, it is said to be less energy intensive, but collectively, could the resources being consumed be on a planet-eating scale?
My third concern is with how Big Tech are attempting to shoehorn AI into every aspect of technology in order to maximise profits. I think Microsoft are probably the worst offenders in this space as they have invested billions of dollars into AI and they are expecting a return on their investment. I understand this, but like it or not, Microsoft are trend setters and they can influence the whole industry. I guess this is what prompted my previous post; the likes of Mozilla can easily include AI features in their web browser, but I wonder if they questioned if they should, or whether they are just following industry trends being set by Big Tech.
Anyhow, I just figured that I should try and clarify my current stance/feelings towards AI. I'm not anti AI, I think the technology has huge potential to do all manner of good things. I just think a level of caution should be used, especially given the current hype and ethical challenges around its development.