Snapchat application on a smartphone placed in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, January 29, 2021.
Gabby Jones Bloomberg | Getty Images
Snap is under investigation in the UK over potential privacy risks related to its generative artificial intelligence chatbot.
The country’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), issued a preliminary enforcement notice on Friday, claiming that the chatbot ‘My AI’ could pose a risk to Snapchat users, particularly those aged 13 to 17. did.
“Preliminary results of our investigation suggest an alarming failure by Snap to adequately identify and assess privacy risks to children and other users before launching ‘My AI.’ I am.” Information Commissioner John Edwards said in a release.
The findings are not yet conclusive and Snap will be given the opportunity to address preliminary concerns before making a final decision.. If the ICO’s preliminary findings result in an enforcement notice, Snap may have to stop offering its AI chatbot to UK users until privacy concerns are resolved.
“We are carefully reviewing the ICO’s preliminary decision. As with the ICO, we are committed to protecting user privacy,” a Snap spokesperson told CNBC in an email. “In line with our standard approach to product development, My AI went through a robust legal and privacy review process before being released to the public.”
The technology company said it will continue to work with ICOs to ensure they are familiar with Snap’s risk assessment procedures. This AI chatbot, powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has the ability to alert parents if their child is using the chatbot. Snap said it also has general guidelines for bots to follow to refrain from offensive comments.
The ICO made no further comment as the findings were preliminary.
The agency previously said,Guidance on AI and data protection”, we issued a general notice in April listing questions developers and users should be asking about AI.
Snap’s AI chatbot has come under scrutiny since its debut earlier this year for inappropriate conversations, including advising a 15-year-old boy how to mask the smell of alcohol and marijuana. According to the Washington Post.
Snap said in its latest financial results that more than 150 million people used its AI bots.
Other forms of generative AI have also come under fire this week. For example, Bing’s image-generating AI has been used by the extremist messaging board 4chan to create racist images. 404 cases reported.