In a recent update to its privacy policy, Google has made a significant change that has caught the attention of privacy advocates and AI enthusiasts alike.
The updated policy now explicitly states that Google reserves the right to collect and analyze virtually any publicly shared online content for the purpose of training its AI systems.
This revelation raises concerns about privacy, data scraping, and the implications of Google's advanced AI technology, particularly Bard, which may soon be scraping everything online.
Google's AI to Scrape Everything Online?
Previously, Google's privacy policy mentioned that user data would be used to train "language" models, with only Google Translate being specifically mentioned.
However, TechSpot reports that the updated policy now broadens this scope to encompass "AI models," explicitly referencing Bard and Cloud AI alongside Google Translate.
This adjustment shows that anything users post publicly online may be captured and utilized by Google's AI models, including Bard.
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While the collection of publicly available information is not entirely new, the expanded language in the privacy policy emphasizes the increasing integration of AI technology into Google's operations and its potential implications for user privacy.
Generative AI systems like Bard and ChatGPT have faced criticism due to concerns about data scraping, plagiarism, privacy, and the risk of misinterpretation or outdated responses.
Even Google itself has cautioned its employees to exercise caution when using chatbots like Bard, as they can produce undesired code suggestions.
However, the legality of such data scraping practices remains in question. OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is currently facing lawsuits that accuse the company of illegally collecting personal information from internet users and utilizing it to train its AI systems.
Furthermore, OpenAI is also contending with a lawsuit involving copyright infringement and privacy violations, alleging that copyrighted books were unlawfully used to train their AI models without obtaining consent or providing proper credit and compensation to copyright holders.
Hands-Off Data
In light of these concerns and controversies surrounding data scraping, prominent figures such as Elon Musk have been actively addressing the issue.
Musk recently tweeted about temporary limits on Twitter, aimed at curbing "extreme levels" of data scraping and system manipulation on the platform.
While the exact reasons for the limitations have been debated, it highlights the growing awareness and efforts to tackle the challenges posed by data scraping.
Google's privacy policy update is not an isolated incident. Other platforms like Reddit have also grappled with data scraping issues.
TechRadar notes that this update in Google's privacy policy makes it quite plain that their AI operates in this manner, and seeing it may cause some people to take a step back and rethink this a little more.
In Other News
OpenAI has revealed its approach to assuring the safety of its AI system, ChatGPT, by detailing its plans to overcome the issues involved with superintelligence alignment.
Stay posted here at Tech Times.
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