AI tools collect and store data about you from all your devices heres how to be aware of what youre revealing

A chatbot is like a digital helper that can chat with people, answering questions, guiding them through tasks, or even offering recommendations—all through simple conversation. In business, chatbots have become popular because they are available 24/7, helping customers get instant support without waiting for a live agent. Yes, AI can be used to create digital art and images through generative models like DALL-E, Canva, Midjourney and other platforms. These models allow users to input prompts or descriptions and generate unique artwork based on that input.

AI tools collect and store data about you from all your devices – here’s how to be aware of what you’re revealing

Yes, AI can sometimes be biased, which happens when it makes unfair or unbalanced decisions because of the data it was trained on. In life and business, this can have real consequences, like when an AI system unintentionally favors certain groups over others. AI is also helping industries like healthcare, finance, and manufacturing work more efficiently, reduce costs, and offer personalized experiences. With so much news about AI, we prepared this guide (with research assistance and insights from AI) to address frequently asked questions about AI. This article is part of a series on data privacy that explores who collects your data, what and how they collect, who sells and buys your data, what they all do with it, and what you can do about it.

Implications for data privacy

These tasks include learning, problem-solving, reasoning, understanding natural language, and adapting to new information. AI systems are built using algorithms, mathematical models, and large datasets that allow them to process information and make decisions autonomously. Many tools that include AI don’t require a person to take any direct action for the tool to collect data about that person. Smart devices such as home speakers, fitness trackers and watches continually gather information through biometric sensors, voice recognition and location tracking. Smart home speakers continually listen for the command to activate or “wake up” the device.

AI-powered art generators are increasingly used in fields like design, advertising, event planning and entertainment. Machine learning is a subset of AI that involves training algorithms to learn from data and make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed. The machine learns patterns from input data and adjusts its parameters to improve its performance over time. Applications include recommendation systems, fraud detection, and facial recognition. For now, you should assume any AI-powered device or platform is collecting data on your inputs, behaviors and patterns. One of the biggest challenges of using AI in business is balancing innovation with reliability and security.

• Autonomous vehicles, or self-driving cars, are high-tech vehicles that can drive themselves using sensors, cameras, and artificial intelligence to navigate, avoid obstacles, and obey traffic rules.
• When done right, ethical AI can lead to tools and technologies that truly benefit society, making life easier while respecting our values and principles.
• If you use smart home or embedded devices, turn them off when you need to have a private conversation.
• Organizations must consider the ethical implications of their AI models, ensuring they do not perpetuate discrimination or negatively impact marginalized groups.
• A device that’s asleep looks inactive, but it is still powered on and listening for a wake word or signal.

AI tools collect and store data about you from all your devices – here’s how to be aware of what you’re revealing

While AI offers powerful insights and automation that can transform how businesses operate, it’s not always perfect. AI models require high-quality data to make accurate predictions, but many businesses struggle with managing and cleaning their data or may lack enough relevant data to train effective models. Autonomous vehicles, or self-driving cars, are high-tech vehicles that can drive themselves using sensors, cameras, and artificial intelligence to navigate, avoid obstacles, and obey traffic rules. They’re designed to make travel safer by reducing human error, but there’s also some hesitation about having these vehicles on the road.

• These biases often come from patterns in the data used to train AI, which may reflect human prejudices or limitations.
• While AI tools and technologies can make life easier, they also raise important questions about data privacy.
• On top of that, data privacy and security are major concerns, as AI systems often process large volumes of sensitive information.
• AI systems are built using algorithms, mathematical models, and large datasets that allow them to process information and make decisions autonomously.
• AI-powered art generators are increasingly used in fields like design, advertising, event planning and entertainment.
• NLP is a field of AI focused on the interaction between computers and humans through natural language.

Richard D. Harroch is a Senior Advisor to CEOs, management teams, and Boards of Directors. He was the Managing Director and Global Head of M&A at VantagePoint Capital Partners, a venture capital fund in the San Francisco area. His articles have appeared online in Forbes, Fortune, MSN, Yahoo, Fox Business and AllBusiness.com. Richard is the author of several books on startups and entrepreneurship as well as the co-author of Poker for Dummies and a Wall Street Journal-bestselling book on small business. He is the co-author of a 1,500-page book published by Bloomberg on mergers and acquisitions of privately held companies. He was also a corporate and M&A partner at the international law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

When using a generative AI platform that gives you answers to questions you type in a prompt, don’t include any personally identifiable information, including names, birth dates, Social Security numbers or home addresses. In general, don’t put anything into a prompt that you wouldn’t feel comfortable revealing to the public or seeing on a billboard. Remember, once you hit enter on the prompt, you’ve lost control of that information.

Changes like these raise concerns about how much control consumers have over their own data when using smart devices. Although some companies promise that they anonymize this data, meaning they store it without naming the person who provided it, there is always a risk of data being reidentified. On the positive side, companies could use deepfakes to create virtual training materials, or to translate video content across languages with a natural feel, without needing to reshoot everything. However, there are concerns about misuse—like spreading false information or impersonating people for fraud.

How AI tools collect data

NLP allows computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language in a way that is valuable for tasks like translation, sentiment analysis, and virtual assistants. Popular applications of NLP include chatbots and voice assistants like Siri and Google Assistant. Some companies claim that voice data is only stored when the wake word – what you say to wake up the device – is detected. AI tools, the companies in charge of them and the companies that have access to the data they collect can also be subject to cyberattacks and data breaches that can reveal sensitive personal information.

Although AI tools collect people’s data, and the way this accumulation of data affects people’s data privacy is concerning, the tools can also be useful. AI-powered applications can streamline workflows, automate repetitive tasks and provide valuable insights. Additionally, there’s the challenge of explainability—understanding why an AI made a particular decision.

In doing so, it accidentally revealed sensitive military locations across the globe through highlighting the exercise routes of military personnel. The singularity is a theoretical point in the future where artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence, leading to rapid and uncontrollable technological growth. At that stage, machines would be able to improve themselves without human intervention, potentially leading to exponential advancements in various fields such as medicine, engineering, and science. Generative AI refers to AI systems that can create new content, such as text, images, music, or even video. Examples include GPT-4o for generating text, and DALL-E for creating images based on textual descriptions. Generative AI is used in creative industries, marketing, and even scientific research to produce innovative content.

This one could be used to create detailed personal profiles on Americans by linking their consumer habits with other personal data. It could allow citizens to be tracked and analyzed across multiple aspects of their lives without their knowledge or consent. The profiles can be used to refine the social media platform’s AI recommender systems. They can also be sold to data brokers, who sell a person’s data to other companies to, for instance, help develop targeted advertisements that align with that person’s interests.