Frankly Speaking - Don't worry about AI

We'll figure out how to secure it!

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer or any other entities with which I am affiliated.

Ever since the ChatGPT launch near the end of 2022, there’s been excitement as well as fear surrounding artificial intelligence. Its capability impressed many in the computer science community, who have been struggling with this problem for decades. However, with new technology always comes fear.

Many companies, including security ones, such as Socket, have embraced and integrated the technology. Others have banned it, such as Italy over vague privacy concerns. There have been reactions all over the spectrum, which isn’t uncommon for new technologies as society tries to understand the implications of its powers and inevitably, the potential abuses of that power.

In this newsletter, I’m going to discuss why I believe there’s nothing to fear, and many concerns, albeit necessary, are overblown. I won’t talk about all the reasons why people fear AI. There are plenty of good articles on this, including one on Noahpinion focused on economic reasons for this fear.

There are definitely problems

Like any technology, it’s not perfect. The company has to balance business and security risks. Too much security would slow down the business. Taking too many business risks would cause people to lose trust. However, it’s always a tricky balance, and security leaders, even the best ones, sometimes get it wrong. So far, I think OpenAI is doing a good job, but it’s too early to say since it hasn’t been publicly available for that long.