If you're on the internet, you've made a Faustian pact - you have unlimited access to knowledge and information, and the ability to make connections in exchange for your data. With AI, the subject of data privacy has renewed significance. Tech companies freely and without permission use the vast amounts of data available online to train AI models. But do we care? Does it matter that we have little control over our images and words that are being used by companies for a profit if the payoff is the opportunity to use AI tools? Surveys have shown that data privacy is a minor concern among ordinary folk, who believe that their data is a small price to pay for the convenience of tools like ChatGPT.

But we should be concerned as tech companies wield an enormous amount of power using our data. There are other questions worth thinking about: the biases inherent in the data that AI is trained on reflect in outcomes. How do we tackle this? How do we regulate tech companies and make them accountable to people? How do we improve the working conditions of people who annotate data for low wages?

This is one facet of the issue. The other is the undeniable fact that AI has immense benefits. It improves productivity, it can deliver education to remote, underserved communities and it can enhance healthcare in economically challenged communities. While we raise important questions about the ethics of AI, perhaps we should also keep in mind that AI is an evolving technology and that it will in time overcome its current faults.