Apple Becomes Latest Giant To Adopt AI, But Risks Persist – Brand Engagement Network May Have The Solution To Ensure Security In The Age Of AI

OpenAI, the brains behind ChatGPT, is taking off as companies like Microsoft Corp. MSFT, Shutterstock Inc. SSTK and Bain & Company adopt this game-changing technology. Even Apple Inc. AAPL, which has been relatively slower to embrace AI, seems to be going all in, recently announcing a partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and other areas of its operating system. 

That will undoubtedly bring more convenience and assistance to Apple's millions of users, but this technology is not without risks. In the wrong hands, AI can be used to create fake videos and content, spread incorrect news and information, enable plagiarism and provide biased results. High-profile lawsuits lodged by celebrities and artists have highlighted AI’s negative aspects and are raising awareness about the dark side of AI.

A survey conducted in August by Pew Research shined a light on this. It found that 52% of Americans are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI. That wariness is up from 2022 and coincides with an uptick in awareness about AI. Pew found individuals who heard a lot about artificial intelligence are 51% more likely to express more concern than excitement about AI. Among those most aware, concern outweighs excitement by 47% to 15%. On the topic of privacy, 53% of Americans polled said AI is doing more to harm than help keep people's personal data private. 

"Americans' concerns about AI include a desire to maintain human control over these technologies, doubts that AI will improve the way things are now, and caution over the pace of AI adoption in fields like health and medicine," wrote the researchers.  

In The Right Hands, AI Can Improve Life 

In the right hands, however, AI isn't as scary as it seems to many. Companies using it responsibly and securely can transform industries with AI. Take Brand Engagement Network Inc. BNAI – or BEN – the developer of generative AI and AI avatars, for one example. With its human-like AI assistants, BEN enhances customer service, productivity and overall performance for businesses, targeting markets facing significant workforce gaps and presenting an opportunity to transform how consumers engage with networks, providers and brands. 

The company's secret sauce is a broad portfolio of conversational AI applications that drive better customer experience, increased automation and operational efficiencies. BEN uses much smaller data parameters than larger models like ChatGPT – enabling it to offer companies AI that is scalable and can be tailored to specific use cases. 

At the heart of its business model is a security-first approach. Unlike many of the unsecured AI systems that rely on unknown data sources and unverified information, BEN trains its AI on client-provided data and follows clients’ internal client data management and privacy protocols. It's also HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 compliant, and its AI platform is deployed and secured in an Amazon AMZN Web Service environment, enabling BEN to support multiple companies securely. 

BEN Has To Be Secure 

Focusing on security is particularly important to BEN, given that its AI solutions are quickly finding their way into many data-sensitive areas like healthcare and finance. In healthcare, BEN says its conversational AI can improve patient experiences and medication understanding, leading to better outcomes. BEN takes the importance of security very seriously.

Take Skye, BEN's AI assistant that can assist patients taking Metformin, the diabetes drug, for another example. The assistant doesn't claim to know everything, nor does it "hallucinate," which occurs when generative AI gives incorrect answers. A big reason for that is that Skye is loaded with very specific pharmaceutical data provided by the drug maker, results from clinical trials and data from accredited medical groups like the American Diabetes Association. 

One of the biggest risks posed by generative AI in industries like healthcare is the risk of "hallucinations," where the AI gives misleading or outright false answers because it is built on unknown data sources and designed to generate a response no matter what. This is where BEN may have the solution to the AI reliability and safety problem. BEN's AI assistants won't answer a question if it doesn't know the answer. It is not connected to unverified information sources like the web, so when a patient asks a question, BEN's AI, using what is known as RAG, draws from carefully selected and validated data sets.

"More than generative AI, we like to call it retrieval AI," said Paul Chang, BEN’s Co-CEO, in a recent interview. The approach BEN is taking with Skye could be replicated over and over for the tens of thousands of drugs on the market. Healthcare is a big opportunity for BEN, given the company reports 145,000 organizations can benefit from BEN's AI. In the financial market where security and data protection are top of mind all the time, BEN says its addressable market is over 227,000 organizations, while in automotive, there are over 450,000 companies that can leverage BEN's platform. 

Businesses Are Taking Notice 

BEN's focus on security and reliability seems to be proving to be a differentiator. It is why MedAdvisor Solutions MDR, a global leader in pharmacy-driven patient engagement solutions, is partnering with BEN to bring BEN's AI assistants to certain pharmacies to help enhance patient outcomes. Or why Provana, a highly specialized knowledge process management provider, is integrating BEN's AI assistants into its contact center solutions. The list goes on, with all of BEN's customers having one thing in common: a need for secure, reliable and responsible AI. 

AI is clearly taking off and will only get bigger as more companies embrace it. The ones who do it responsibly and securely like BEN will not only improve the quality of life for the masses but do it without infringing on their privacy and or compromising their data. Can the same be said about some of the other players in the AI marketplace?

Featured photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash.

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