According to a recent survey issued by Cisco, more than one in four organizations have banned the use of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) due to privacy and data security issues. In the “Cisco’s 2024 Data Privacy Benchmark Study,” 2,600 privacy and security experts from 12 different locations were polled. According to the study, 27% of organizations temporarily forbade the use of Gen AI, and the majority of businesses are restricting its usage due to worries about data security and privacy. The seventh edition of the study emphasizes that privacy is more than just following the law.
The study also showed that organizations are worried about the application of Gen AI in several ways. Threats to an organization’s legal and intellectual property rights rank first (69%), followed by the possibility of information being leaked to the public or rival businesses (68%). Notwithstanding these worries, 91% of organizations admit that more needs to be done to convince clients that their data is only being used in AI for intended and legal reasons. Surprisingly, the analysis discovered that this trend is comparable to the values from the previous year, indicating that not much has changed.
Dev Stahlkopf, Cisco’s Chief Legal Officer, stated, “Organisations see Gen AI as a fundamentally different technology with unique challenges that must be addressed. More than 90% of respondents believe that Gen AI requires new techniques for managing data and risk. This is where thoughtful governance becomes crucial. Preserving customer trust depends on it.”
Similar reservations regarding Gen AI were also voiced in a January Deloitte assessment. According to the survey, only 25% of CEOs think their companies are “very highly” or “highly” prepared to handle the risk and governance challenges related to the implementation of Gen AI. Furthermore, only 47% of respondents concur that their companies are teaching staff members sufficiently about the potential, advantages, and worth of Gen AI. The survey also showed that more than half of the participants (51%) are concerned that the growing application of Gen AI will worsen economic disparity.
“We’re in the early days of a major technological transformation with Gen AI beginning to drive a wave of innovation across industries,” said Joe Ucuzoglu, Deloitte Global CEO, adding that business leaders are under immense pressure to act while ensuring appropriate governance and risk mitigation guardrails are in place.”
In May 2023, a poll by Gartner revealed that third-party viability was the most often highlighted danger, with generative AI coming in second.
