Artificial Intelligence & Digital Security

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of our daily lives and offers many benefits, such as automation, increased efficiency, and improved decision-making. What makes AI so powerful is it can have the intelligence and reasoning capability of the human mind but can analyze exponentially far more information than any human and do it in a manner of seconds.

The concept of AI is not new.  Originally covered in science fiction novels, AI is something that has been in development for decades. There are now AI solutions that can create for you a video of a person teaching a class in any language you want, analyze health records and quickly determine who most likely has cancer, can create news articles or essays on the topic of your choice, generate images for children’s books, or create code for new computer programs.

The reason you are hearing so much about AI recently is because for the first time anyone and everyone has the chance to interact with and see the true functionality of AI.  An online powered AI chat bot, and one of the first publicly available has recently been introduced which has the ability to think and respond like a real human.  As a digital university, AU embraces digital advances. While AI offers many benefits, such as improved customer service and more efficient communication, it is important for the AU community to be aware of the potential cybersecurity risks associated with its use.

Digital Security risks associated with Artificial Intelligence(AI)

1. AI can replicate you. There are now AI solutions that can take a recording of your voice and then use that recording to create real-time audio that sounds just like you, saying whatever it wants.  So a cyber attacker could record a phone voice message that sounds like you, tricking your co-workers or your spouse into thinking you called them and asked them to take action.  Or perhaps your bank authenticates you based on your voice, something cyber attackers can now replicate.
2. AI can now also leverage pictures of you, or perhaps a short video clip of you, and then use that to create new video of you taking actions, exhibiting behaviors, or saying things you never did (sometimes called Deep Fakes).
3. There is the danger of how you may interact with and use AI yourself.   Whenever using or interacting with an AI system, such as when chatting online with an AI solution like AI, be aware that any information you enter into the system can not only be retained and processed by it but also used to give answers to others.  This means if you enter any personal information about yourself or any confidential information from work, that information will be stored and potentially shared with others. 
4. Another risk associated with AI is the possibility of chatbot fraud, where scammers create fake chatbots that appear to be genuine but are actually designed to steal personal information or sensitive data.
5. It is important to understand the limitations of AI and to be aware of the potential for errors and inaccuracies. AI is a machine learning model that is trained on large amounts of data and can generate text based on user inputs. However, it is not perfect and can sometimes produce incorrect or misleading information.
6. AI can also be vulnerable to malware and other cyber threats, such as phishing scams and hacking attempts.

What you can do

• Ensure that you confirm any out-of-the-ordinary requests by contacting the source for verification through a trusted communication medium.
• Limit the amount of information and images that you share publicly. It is important to be cautious when sharing sensitive data online and to ensure that you are only sharing it with trusted individuals and organizations. Review your privacy settings on social media platforms.
• Limit the amount of information and images that you share publicly. It is important to be cautious when sharing sensitive data online and to ensure that you are only sharing it with trusted individuals and organizations. Review your privacy settings on social media platforms.
• To protect against chatbot fraud, it is important to be cautious when using chatbots and to only use trusted sources. Additionally, it is important to check the credentials and security features of any chatbots before using them.
• To reduce the risk of errors and inaccuracies, it is important to verify any information generated by AI and to use it as a guide, rather than a definitive source of information.
• To protect yourself and your information from these threats, it is important to keep your computer and other devices up to date with the latest security features and to use anti-malware software to detect and remove any potential threats. Additionally, it is important to be cautious when using links or downloading files from unknown sources, as they may contain malware or other harmful code.