18th SSF Security Talk | Generative AI: A Powerful Productivity Tool or a Fundamental Security Risk?, 26th August 2024
At the 18th SSF Security Talk, seven experts discussed the importance of classic and generative AI, the enormous opportunities, but also the major risks, of the latest IT evolution. With the publication of ChatGTP at the end of 2022, the disruptive potential of this technology became clear for the first time not only to experts, but also to a large part of the general public. The heads of major technology companies such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon etc. are convinced that the development of generative AI is just as fundamental as the invention of the cell phone, the microprocessor, electricity or even fire. For the first time, generative artificial intelligence can not only predict the “most likely” answer, as classical predictive AI did before, but can actually generate “creative” outputs, which has long been considered a unique characteristic of humans.
Text, image and audio files, for example, can be created in no time at all. However, there are also considerable risks when using this new technology. Generative AI models can hallucinate in certain cases and thus generate meaningless or incorrect output. There is also a risk that they could be misused by malicious users to commit fraud, manipulate public opinion or unsettle the population. The more widely this technology becomes established, the more important trust becomes on the part of the user. This trust arises when technology companies offer safe and ethically sound products and there is also sensible regulation.
The experts at the 18th FSS Security Talk therefore agreed that key ethical issues need to be clarified in the near future. The focus will be on topics such as bias, transparency, responsibility and the potential social impact. At the same time, generative artificial intelligence is a tool that can be used to expand or improve one's own capabilities. However, it is essential to train the population accordingly. On the one hand, people need to learn how to use the new tools so that their potential can be utilized as beneficially as possible. On the other hand, awareness must be created of the malicious purposes for which this technology can be misused. The typically human characteristic of critical thinking will play a central role here.
In the presence of almost 100 interested participants, renowned experts such as Katharina Fulterer (Partner Data & AI at Eraneos), Stefan Preuss (Head of Emerging Technologies Audit Department at Mobiliar), Dr. Thomas Rothacher (Head of Science and Technology at armasuisse), Jennifer Victoria Scurrell (PhD student at the Center for Security Studies), Patrick Fontana (Digital & App Innovation Specialist at Microsoft), Dr. Peter Friedli (Partner Public Security at Eraneos) and Lisa Kondratieva (Head of AI at ti&m) spoke and discussed.
The Swiss Security Forum (SSF) can look back on a successful event and would like to thank all those who attended for their participation.
The detailed summary report with the exciting findings from the input presentations and the panel discussion can be found here.
The program for the talk and the panelists can be found here.
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