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The Impact of Generative AI on Privacy, Reliability and Consistency

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Debashis Singh, Chief Information Officer, Persistent Systems

Debashis is an industry thought leader with over 29 years of IT experience. He specializes in driving digital transformation and cloud adoption for improved employee experience and operational efficiency across the enterprise. Debashis has been recognized with multiple coveted awards and recognition by different industry forums.

Generative AI (GenAI) is reshaping the way enterprises operate. As organizations cautiously navigate the adoption of GenAI, the technology is poised for significant growth over the next few years. The GenAI market is on the brink of a significant expansion, driven by the emergence of commercially available consumer-oriented programs. A recent report from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) forecasts substantial growth, projecting the GenAI market to soar to USD 1.3 trillion in the next decade. The remarkable surge marks a substantial increase from its 2022 market size of a mere USD 40 billion. The proliferation of innovative and consumer-friendly GenAI applications is expected to be a key driver in this exponential market growth.

By 2026, over 80 percent of businesses are projected to use GenAI application programming interfaces (APIs) or models and implement GenAI-enabled applications in operational settings. It marks a substantial increase from the mere five percent observed in 2023. GenAI promises to deliver a significant boost in productivity, making life easier and providing effective solutions to real-world business challenges. However, as the scale of GenAI implementation grows, organizations must grapple with critical considerations surrounding privacy, reliability, and consistency.

As organizations embark on this transformative journey, questions surrounding the security, privacy, and potential compromise of intellectual properties (IPs) demand immediate attention. The challenge lies in ensuring that the vast amount of work delegated to AI systems does not lead to breaches that could jeopardize reputations and create significant repercussions. To navigate this complex terrain, organizations must establish robust frameworks and models to control data processing, storage, and ethical use. As per a survey of business and technology leaders in the fourth quarter of 2023 by Deloitte, the primary concerns surrounding governance included a lack of confidence in results (36 percent), intellectual property issues (35 percent), the potential misuse of client or customer data (34 percent), the ability to comply with regulations (33 percent) and a deficiency in explainability /transparency (31 percent).

Some organizations have proactively addressed risks associated with the implementation of GenAI. It involves actions like monitoring regulatory requirements and ensuring compliance (47 percent), establishing a governance framework specifically tailored for GenAI (46 percent) and

conducting internal audits and testing on GenAI tools and applications (42 percent). These organizations, however, constitute a minority, and their initiatives only scratch the surface of the complex challenges at hand.

Considering Factors Critical for GenAI Adoption
The initial steps in adopting GenAI involve addressing fundamental questions about security and ethical implication. Organizations must apply stringent controls, akin to those applied in human data processing, to safeguard privacy. The journey begins with understanding the source of the data, its processing methods, storage locations and the overarching security protocols. Also, the ethical use of data must be a guiding principle throughout the entire process to ensure that resultant outcomes do not compromise privacy rights. Standards like ISO offer a broad framework for organizational operations; enterprises must approach their implementation cautiously, considering various factors. This includes understanding the nuances of data sources, processing methodologies, ethical considerations, and privacy factors to avoid unintended consequences. In navigating these complexities, enterprises can leverage GenAI-powered systems to assist employees in comprehending policies and guidelines specific to their travel destinations. By doing so, they not only ensure compliance but also provide clarity and support in adhering to established standards and protocols.

As organizations navigate the complexities of GenAI implementation, these initiatives offer valuable insights into effective strategies for addressing privacy and reliability concerns.

GenAI promises to deliver a significant boost in productivity, making life easier and providing effective solutions to real-world business challenges.

Maintaining a Delicate Balancing Act
One critical challenge an organization faces is around safeguarding the data utilized by employees. The quality of data, encompassing aspects like data integrity, sanitization and consistency, stands as a pivotal factor crucial for accuracy and success of any LLM model. This data serves as the foundation for generating information upon which AI tools are trained, often relying on legacy data sources. As awareness grows regarding data privacy and security, there's an increasing recognition of the significance of running Language Models (LLMs) or GenAI engines on private servers. This approach enhances confidentiality and control over sensitive data, addressing concerns related to privacy and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.

By operating the engine externally, the confidentiality of data can be maintained, thereby ensuring that the AI tool does not glean insights from proprietary information. Enterprises are adopting a contractual and technical configuration that ensures the privacy and confidentiality of their data, enabling queries to be processed without compromising sensitive information.

The restricted use of enterprise legacy data in GenAI tools triggers questions about reliability and consistency. Using a finite set of data may limit the model's exposure, but it raises concerns about the breadth of knowledge. However, organizations are finding a delicate balance by implementing data classification strategies, ensuring that confidential information remains private.

In addition, there are concerns about the trade-off between limiting data access and achieving accuracy in GenAI outcomes. Working with a finite set of enterprise legacy data may limit the knowledge of the model; therefore, organizations must carefully navigate the fine line between data limitation and exposing confidential information. Enterprises employ data classification methodologies, distinguishing between confidential and public information. Depending on the nature of the data, organizations permit the engine to learn from internal or external sources, ensuring a balance that aligns with their specific use cases.

The impact of GenAI on privacy, reliability and consistency is multi-faceted, requiring organizations to tread carefully as they embrace this transformative technology. Striking a delicate balance between data access, privacy and ethical use is paramount for ensuring successful GenAI adoption. As enterprises continue to unlock the potential of GenAI, the ability of the technology to address real-world challenges while maintaining ethical standards will shape its role in diverse industry applications in the future.

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