Google has made a significant change to its privacy policy, explicitly stating that publicly available information can be collected and used by its AI technology, including the Bard AI. This adjustment has raised concerns about privacy, plagiarism, and the broader implications of large-scale data scraping by tech giants like Google.
Details of the Privacy Policy Update:
Google’s privacy policy now includes a section acknowledging the collection of information from publicly accessible sources to train its AI models and develop products like Google Translate, Bard, and Cloud AI capabilities. Previously, the policy mentioned the use of publicly available information solely for training “language models” and specifically referenced Google Translate.
Implications and Concerns:
The revised privacy policy highlights that Google’s AI, including Bard, operates by extracting and analyzing online content from various sources. This explicit statement may cause individuals to question the extent of data collection and its implications for privacy. The update also raises concerns about potential plagiarism, as AI-generated responses could include content obtained from public sources through Bard’s training.
Challenges and Boundaries:
Given the nature of Google’s data collection approach, attempting to establish boundaries on the use of publicly available content becomes challenging. Policing content for potential plagiarism or ensuring accuracy when data is scraped on a large scale presents significant practical difficulties. Moreover, the scraping of public data from the web can lead to broader issues of misinformation and accuracy.
Broader Concerns and Industry Reactions:
Other platforms, such as Reddit and Twitter, have expressed worries about the scraping of public data for AI model training. Elon Musk has reportedly taken a stand against this practice, highlighting limitations that have been introduced to curb data scraping. These concerns and limitations could potentially impact the competitive landscape, benefiting platforms like Facebook’s Threads.
Google’s updated privacy policy makes it explicit that publicly available information can be collected and used by its AI models, including Bard. This has raised concerns about privacy, plagiarism, and the broader implications of large-scale data scraping by tech giants. The challenges of establishing boundaries, ensuring accuracy, and addressing misinformation present significant hurdles. As AI technologies advance, the ethical and practical aspects of data collection and usage warrant careful consideration.
