Recent developments in the use of AI technology have led to evolving data protection concerns. In this regard, OpenAI recently responded to the block imposed by the Italian data protection authority, Garante, at the end of March, with improved transparency and rights for users in the EU. OpenAI has been working to add more features and protections to their ChatGPT system, such as the ability to opt-out of data use for training, an age check for new users, and a form for users in the EU to object to the storage of chat data without deleting the chats. These actions have been welcomed by the Italian Data Protection Authority.
The AI Act from the EU Parliament is also responding to these developments, and negotiations have recently concluded. It was decided that generative AI systems such as ChatGPT would not be automatically labeled as high-risk AI systems, but rather assessed on a case-by-case basis, depending on the application and the associated risks — the final version of the draft will be voted on in mid-June. However, it was also decided that developers of such AI systems would be subject to additional guidelines, such as data quality and cyber security requirements and the documentation of data used for training.
Other providers are also working on developing privacy-friendly designs of GPT language models. Private AI, for example, has developed PrivateGPT, which automatically filters out personal data from user requests. Microsoft is also creating a business version of ChatGPT that is intended for privacy-sensitive industries such as banking and healthcare.
OpenAI is a San Francisco-based research laboratory launched in December 2018 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, among others. It has become one of the most influential developments in artificial intelligence because of its use of research oriented deep learning. OpenAI’s mission is to support human-friendly artificial intelligence and strive to develop advanced AI technology that could be used for a variety of applications, including healthcare and finance.
