Tackling Artificial Intelligence and Security
With Artificial Intelligence making an entrance into our ever-evolving daily life, it is worth taking a bit of time to talk about how security can be compromised when using a virtual machine.
The last year or so has been filled with wild reports from various Alexa users talking about how the device started randomly laughing or even talking back or doing actions that were not requested. This led to many thinking they had stepped right into the middle of a science fiction movie!
According to many social media accounts, Amazon’s Echo would spontaneously laugh, causing fear and confusion among many users.
“I was trying to turn off some lights and they kept turning back on. After the third request, Alexa stopped responding and instead did an evil laugh,” wrote one Reddit poster on a thread about the device. “The laugh wasn’t in Alexa’s voice. It sounded like a real person. My wife was there when it happened, and she is the only person who can drop in. I still get chills.”
Another post in the same thread: “The alarm came on this morning however we had the flu and was miserable,” wrote another Reddit poster in the same thread. “I told Alexa to turn off the alarm and upon the second request, she gave us the most chilling witch-like laugh. It scared the wife and my five-year-old so badly that we unplugged her.”
How Best to Use AI
When companies start thinking about how to get the best use from an artificial chatbot per se, it’s easy to see that this could be useful to save money for the company and time for the caller. If you wanted to cancel a credit card or fill out common forms, this could be something fairly easy and wouldn’t require the bot to have access to a lot of information.
Consider the learning curve of this feature. In order for an AI to learn about data, it has to be exposed to all of the different types of information. A dog could be not only a Lab but a Golden Retriever or a Dachshund, as there are many breeds and sizes.
With that in mind, to handle a large corporation, the data the call center would have access to would be immense. Consider when you call your banking institution. There is information that you give to gain access to your account. Most of the time, we input that information at the beginning of the call to get to the correct department.
Once there, we are again asked to verify other account information, such as addresses and phone numbers. The data can be mishandled by an AI as it could get confused or misdirects where the customer is to be sent. Data could be inadvertently shared with other customers leading to identity theft threats or worse.
The AI would continue to learn and be able to, over time, put all the pieces together, but at what cost?
Cyber Security Issues
Because the AI must have access to a wide range of enterprise data to be useful, it draws cyberattacks. AI systems are unpredictable. There can be malicious actors generating more sophisticated attacks against AI and non-AI targets.
Through repeated testing, a potential attacker can get to know your AI better than you do. If attackers find unnoticed weaknesses or loopholes, they could exploit them. This could lead to data breaches and more.
Not to forget the traditional cybersecurity challenges: 80 percent of successful cyber incidents trace back to poor user practices, inadequate network and management practices, and poor implementation of network architecture.
Sometimes Human is Better
Keeping the human aspect intact with customer service may be something your company wants to focus on until there is adequate security in place to implement the necessary requirements and assurances of having an AI system in place.
AI could possibly change up the strategy moving forward with all types of helpful information, customer service, and automated online or over-the-phone customers, saving time and money for both the business and the consumer.
With responsive and layered defenses in place, good situational awareness, and constant review, a seamless interaction can cut call center volume, reduce HR burden and deliver more effective services.
Security Service Information
At Network Coverage, our goal is to help your company thrive without having to worry about the hassle of keeping up with all security-related issues. We want to help you help your customers by taking that worry off the table. For more information on how we can help, contact us today!
Resources:
https://www.governmentciomedia.com/chatbots-ai-security
https://www.reddit.com/r/amazonecho/comments/7gr1zw/what_is_your_creepy_alexa_story/