The expansion of AI has brought a hidden cost to the digital age: the monetisation of our personal data. What appears to be a convenient, affordable service like ChatGPT’s £15 monthly subscription is, in fact, a Faustian bargain.  

As AI systems demand ever-increasing amounts of data to improve, corporations are aggressively collecting our private information, using it to train models that can predict trends and draw conclusions about our lives.  

This isn’t targeted ads, but rather it is feeding a system that, while impressive, can be fundamentally flawed and risky.  

The unseen price of your data

To put it bluntly, the true value of your data is far greater than the subscription fees we willingly pay. With a scarcity of clean, publicly available datasets, tech giants are turning to open-source platforms and user interactions to fuel their AI development.  

Have you questioned why GPT subscriptions have been so cheap and readily accessible despite their huge innovation costs? These tech giants aren’t foolish. Their business model relies entirely on the value of data – your own, the public’s, and any they can possibly acquire. 

The affordable monthly fee, therefore, is a deceptive bargain. The real cost is the forfeiture of your private data. This information is used to train AI models, enabling them to predict trends and make predictions, often with incomplete or biased information. 

Take Perplexity as an example: the novel agentic AI browser that sought to access users’ entire browsing history before halting for obvious reasons – underscores this alarming trend.  

Our digital lives are being treated as a free resource to be mined, and in this process, we lose control over our personal information. This dynamic is a clear signal that we must start pricing our data, recognising its value as a personal asset rather than a corporate commodity. 

AI is hallucinating – so what?

Compounding this issue is the phenomenon of AI hallucination, which OpenAI defines as the AI “inventing facts at times of uncertainty”. That is a serious made-up justification, with real-world consequences.  

A Stanford study revealed lawyers using hallucinated AI to cite fabricated legal cases in court, a problem brought to light by a Manhattan lawyer’s viral legal brief. This incident, which caught the attention of Chief Justice John Roberts, is a vivid example of the integrity of information being compromised. 

These hallucinations erode trust and can lead to severe real-world repercussions. In a world where AI is increasingly used for everything from medical diagnoses to financial advice, a system that can confidently and convincingly fabricate information is a significant threat. It shows that we cannot afford to lose the integrity of our information, or have it exploited by a system that is still far from perfect. 

What can we do about it

Given the current landscape, it is crystal clear that we need a new approach. Here’s what needs to happen: 

1. Demand data ownership: We must advocate for policies and technologies that give individuals control and ownership over their data. The concept of Web 3.0 promises a decentralised internet where users can manage their own data, but this vision can only become a reality with strong regulatory frameworks and a collective understanding of our data’s value. 
2. Advocate for regulation: The lack of a global consensus on AI development and data usage is a major vulnerability. We need clear, enforceable regulations that mandate transparency in how data is collected and used. This would help prevent the kind of data exploitation that’s happening today. 
3. Always be on your feet with new subscriptions: As individuals, we must be more discerning about the AI services we use. Before subscribing to a service, read its privacy policy and understand what data is being collected. Recognise that the output of an AI is not infallible and should be cross-referenced with reliable sources. 

Looking to the future

The future of AI is not about whether it’s good or bad, but about how we, as a society, decide to shape its development. Our actions today will determine whether AI becomes a tool that empowers us or a system that exploits our most valuable asset: our data.  

This is why private engines like GAI Translate are so important. By operating in a private, closed system, we provide a secure alternative that ensures your personal and professional information remains your own. See how Hawcroft, a global risk management company, uses GAI Translate to save 24 hours per week by automating its compliance reporting process.   

A call for business leaders

In conclusion, to tackle the issue of data privacy, there must be a collective shift in our mindset – from viewing data as a free resource to be mined by large corporations, to recognising its value it deserves and demanding its protection.  

Business leaders have a crucial role to play, as it falls on them to take the lead in emphasising and educating people on the importance of data security. 

AI is not just a threat, but also our most powerful tool for defense. By leveraging AI to build more robust fraud detection systems and enhance our security protocols, we can use the very technology that creates new vulnerabilities to proactively protect ourselves. It’s about fighting fire with fire, and in doing so, we begin to build a more secure, reliable digital future.