The Snapchat application on a smartphone arranged in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands, Jan. 29, 2021.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Snap
is currently being investigated in the U.K. due to privacy concerns surrounding the company’s generative artificial intelligence chatbot.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the data protection regulator in the country, issued a preliminary enforcement notice on Friday highlighting the potential risks posed by the chatbot, named My AI, especially to Snapchat users aged between 13 and 17.
“The initial findings of our investigation indicate a troubling failure by Snap to sufficiently identify and assess the privacy risks to children and other users prior to launching ‘My AI’,” stated Information Commissioner John Edwards in the press release.
These findings are not yet conclusive, and Snap will have an opportunity to address the initial concerns before a final decision. If the ICO’s provisional findings lead to an enforcement notice, Snap may be required to suspend the AI chatbot for U.K. users until the privacy concerns are resolved.
“We are thoroughly reviewing the ICO’s preliminary decision. Like the ICO, we are deeply committed to safeguarding the privacy of our users,” said a Snap spokesperson in an email to CNBC. “As part of our standard product development process, My AI underwent a comprehensive legal and privacy review prior to its public release.”
The tech company also stated that it will continue to collaborate with the ICO to ensure that the organization is satisfied with Snap’s risk assessment procedures. The AI chatbot, which operates on OpenAI’s ChatGPT, includes features that notify parents if their children are using the chatbot. Snap also claims to have general guidelines in place for its bots to avoid making offensive comments.
The ICO refrained from offering additional comments, citing the provisional nature of the findings.
The ICO had previously released a “Guidance on AI and data protection” and followed up with a general notice in April featuring questions that developers and users should consider regarding AI.
Snap’s AI chatbot has faced scrutiny since its launch earlier this year due to inappropriate conversations, such as advising a 15-year-old on how to conceal the smell of alcohol and marijuana, as reported by the Washington Post.
Other forms of generative AI have also received criticism, including Bing’s image-creating generative AI, which was used by the extremist messaging board 4chan to generate racist images, according to 404Media.
In its latest earnings report, the company revealed that over 150 million people have utilized the AI bot.
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