Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, she argued that AI is closely intertwined with big data and primarily benefits industries like Google and Meta.
Whittaker emphasized that AI and surveillance are interconnected, stating, “AI is a way, I think, to entrench and expand the surveillance business model,” and she likened their relationship to a Venn diagram with significant overlap.
These remarks come at a time when there’s growing public concern about AI’s potential misuse for manipulation and privacy violations. Whittaker pointed out that AI systems often rely on data labeled and organized by regular individuals, who are paid minimally despite their collective effort being a costly process. She stressed that without this human effort, AI systems wouldn’t function as they do.
In her view, AI and surveillance technologies can lead to the creation of surveillance systems used by powerful entities such as employers, governments, and border control to make determinations and predictions affecting people’s access to resources and opportunities.
Whittaker’s comments shed light on the complex relationship between AI, surveillance, and the ethical concerns surrounding them.
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