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Fear of AI and Cybersecurity

The fear of AI and cybersecurity is costing many people to miss some great opportunities with these important disciplines. However, it does not need to be this way. Further, the first step to reduce these fears is to understand why they are there and what they are. So that is exactly where we will start.

Why is there so much fear with AI and cybersecurity

Cybersecurity and AI are experiencing unprecedented growth. Any time you have a lot of rapid change and innovation you will see people feel powerless to it. This lack of control and understanding creates fear in both individuals and business leaders.

Also, this fear is then magnified by news outlets, publications and the Internet that write content that stokes them even more. So what are the things that people are most fearful about with AI and cybersecurity?

Fear in cybersecurity

Since the Internet exploded in the late 90’s our world has become interconnected. So this allows people to communicate and connect from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world.

While this has caused a great digital economy, it also has presented easy opportunities for cyber criminals to use this same connectivity for cyber attacks. With most of the world now online, this has worsened the situation.

All of this has led to massive cyber attacks that have cost individuals their identities and businesses millions of dollars. This has caused a myriad of fears including:

Individual cybersecurity fears

Cybersecurity has been producing fear for decades now. So here are some of the the biggest fears people have.

• Identity theft – Many fear that someone will steal their identity and that they will experience the associated impacts.
• Privacy breach – People are scared a breach of their privacy could result in embarrassing information being disclosed.
• Uncertainty – Since cybersecurity is changing so fast they are unsure how to make decisions about cybersecurity. This includes how to secure their own data and systems.
• Doubt – Many doubt they have enough information to make decisions. Also, that they will not be able to prevent cyberattacks.
• Causing a breach – People fear clicking on the wrong email or making a mistake at work that could lead to a breach.
• Accountability – Being held accountable for making a cyber related mistake.
• Family related fears – Many fear that cyber scammers may trick vulnerable family members. These often include both younger family members and the oldest.
• Critical infrastructure fears – Many fear that a cybersecurity attack will impact critical resources such as water, electrical, or nuclear facilities.

Business cybersecurity fears

There is also no shortage of fear in businesses as it relates to cybersecurity. So here are some of the most common issues.

• Financial impacts – Fear that a cybersecurity breach will lead to financial impacts at their business.
• Accountability – Executives will be responsible for poor cybersecurity decisions.
• Loss of customer trust – Poor cybersecurity decisions or breaches will lead to a loss of customer trust or brand strength.
• Impact to stock price – The new cybersecurity SEC reporting requirements will increase the risk a cybersecurity incident could impact their stock price.
• Cyber insurance – Business leaders fear they either cannot get cyber insurance. Also, that their insurance will not cover a cyber incident if it occurred.
• Ability to find cybersecurity talent – Many organizations are unable to find the necessary resources they need for cybersecurity.
• Trade secrets – Many fear that competitors may steal confidential information.
• Fear of AI attacks – That they will not have adequate protection to fend off AI related attacks.

Fear of AI

AI has grown and changed at rapid speeds. This rapid change alone will cause fear in people. However, this is only the start of the issue.

We have also begun to see rapid benefits from this growth that are visible daily. We are all using tools such as ChatGPT and they are not just novelties now, they are helping us make decisions and improve our work.

However, this effectivity has led to many more fears of AI then just that from rapid change. Also, people are afraid AI will replace them in their jobs. Now when something is can impact your livelihood and family, it can really scare you.

Even worse, thanks to the Terminator franchise stoking the fire for over 30 years many fear we may not just lose our jobs to AI, but also control of our world. Yikes! Further, there are other things too that individuals and businesses are afraid of with AI.

Individual AI Fears

Individuals are scared of many different things we describe below in relation to AI.

• Afraid of using technology – Many have a huge fear of technology in general and having to use it.
• Self driving cars – Many people have fear of AI self-driving vehicles or other self-driving cars on the road.
• Ability to learn AI – Many lack confidence that they can learn AI and the impacts because of this
• Deepfakes – There are concerns that people may mistake an AI deepfake as a real image or video..
• Loneliness – As machines increasingly dominate human conversation, people fear loneliness and isolation.
• Fear of replacement – Many people commonly fear being replaced by a machine or AI in their job.
• Entry level work – AI replacing many entry-level jobs has caused concern among many people who fear they may not be able to secure important early careers..
• Guilty feelings from cheating – Numerous people are afraid that they will experience guilt for using AI to cheat on projects, work, school assignments, or daily activities.
• Fearful others are cheating with AI – They are afraid that they will be negatively affected by others who are using AI effectively.

Business Fears of AI

Just like with cybersecurity, businesses also have considerable fear of AI.

• Ability to compete – Many organizations fear they will not be able to compete with larger organizations in AI.
• AI Skilled Talent – Fear of getting access to the necessary skilled resources.
• Technical Infrastructure – Many organizations do not feel they are able to build or afford effective AI infrastructures.
• Processor availability – There are currently shortages of available processors which has caused AI fear.
• Unauthorized employee use – Many employees are using Ai without authorization which could lead to breaches or other impacts.
• Information disclosure – Organizations are scared that AI will accidentally release information.
• Ethics – Organizations fear their AI will break ethical boundaries by accident. this could be through AI bias or many other related ethics issues.
• Poor supporting data – Many organizations have bad input data to supply to AI systems.
• Poor policy and process – Many fear they do not have strong policies and processes for how people use AI at their organization.
• Customer safety – Many are afraid that AI systems will make a mistake and hurt customers or employees.
• Marketing and SEO – There is fear in many businesses that their marketing efforts will be negatively impacted by AI.

Next Steps

Now that you understand the why and what is causing cybersecurity and AI fear, a strong next step is to see what other tips and techniques you can use to reduce it. One great place to start is to learn from the cybersecurity playbook.

If you are looking for a partner in learning or potentially working in the AI or cybersecurity industry, reach out to us here on our getting started page.