AI development stokes privacy concerns

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Almost one billion Chinese are online, spending an average of three to four hours a day surfing the web. However, during the past five years, the online population has been expanding more slowly than the country's GDP.

Tech industry executives are banking on technologies based on the Internet, such as autonomous driving, to drive further growth.

Some of the experts have been sharing their views on how innovation can help at the annual China Development Forum (CDF).

“Right now, autonomous driving has not yet hit open roads, but the development is moving really fast,” said Robin Li, co-founder of Baidu. "We are expecting that in three to five years, driverless vehicles can be driven on regular roads."

VCG Photo

While data collected from the web helps make technologies such as driverless vehicles a reality, the fast pace of technology-driven development also brings privacy concerns.

About 80 percent of global data is controlled by corporations, and that includes clients’ information, financial records as well as surveillance. How the data should be used, and how to protect privacy remains a very important ethical dilemma.

“We need to live by a set of data principles," said Virginia M. Rometty, president of IBM. "We are committed these technologies are about augmenting men. And we are committed to make AI (artificial intelligence) explainable.”

Research shows that Chinese society holds an open attitude towards AI. With the huge Chinese demand for better lives, innovation is the key to opening doors to the Chinese market.

However, as machines continue to learn from humans and be more like humans, executives from top global tech firms also believe AI technologies need to be handled carefully.

“It is not a black box – make it transparent, and we do not commercialize our clients’ data. It is their data. They own it as they are the creators. And we don’t sell the insights that the AI generates on their behaviors,” Rometty said.