ECA News Compass

Welcome to the ECA News Compass! ?

This page is dedicated to everything that is going on in digital ethics, trust, AI, legal enforcement and regulation, eCommerce and technology.?

We are curating news and headlines weekly that we recommend for reading, from a broad range of topics at the? intersection of AI and society, technology, law & regulation, business and online retail.

Each week, we come across so many different news and headlines that it is sometimes hard to keep track of the latest developments or to separate the relevant news from the less interesting ones. So here, at the ECA Compass, we are compiling news that we have pre-selected and identified as relevant and hopefully inspiring for our audience.

[Please bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive overview over everything that has been going on, but a selection of articles and analyses that we recommend.]

Please reach out to us with comments and suggestions.?

Week 13 - 17 November?

TOPIC 1: AI

AI & Tech

Tech giants have highlighted the need for red teaming to assess their models against security attacks or misuse. Red teaming involves testing AI models by simulating adversarial attacks and potential misuse, like injecting harmful prompts, extracting personally identifiable information from training data, and poisoning datasets to identify risks and weaknesses.?

AI & Business

Recognising data as a competitive asset, taking ownership of AI strategy and risk at the board level, being proactive about workforce strategy and talent needs, aiming to shape the industry ecosystem, and pushing for transformative and measurable impact.

The job of a board is to protect shareholders’ interests. But because AI is so fundamentally disruptive (strategically, operationally, and competitively), the board has an obligation to its shareholders to drive and oversee the change.

Plus:

AI & Policy

While major players like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI express support for AI regulation to address potential risks, a growing group of tech heavyweights, including venture capitalists and CEOs of midsize software companies, oppose it.

Allowing the code to be open and accessible for all means making it more transparent, but it does not mean that generative AI models are beneficial for all. Open source can sometimes be used for unintended or even malicious use. So before transparency, Dr. Chowdhury argues, comes accountability. She advocates for a global governance body for generative AI to solve these issues and support individual governments in their efforts. “An entity like this is tasked with thinking of benefits to humanity.”

AI in Practice

Chatbots are designed to be able to respond to any kind of request for an unlimited number of times, so they might sometimes invent information, known as? “hallucination”. This can quickly turn into serious problems if applied on court documents, medical information or sensitive business data.

Plus: Everybody can build a chatbot:

TOPIC 2:?Digital Business and Legal

The challenges and opportunities in the EU digital strategy, emphasising benefits like enhanced data sharing and portability, reduced market power for gatekeeper platforms, and improved protection of end-user rights in AI. It also notes potential benefits for industries with reduced customer lock-in effects, fostering increased competition.