Vicky Grobbelaar, legal tech expert and founder of Ethiqs Legal, shares her predictions for the coming year. In this article she shares how businesses can stay ahead of the curve and understand the legal implications.*
INCREASE IN NO-CODE AI
Next year will see more businesses taking advantage of no-code AI, with NoAI’s ChatGPT predicted to be popular. ChatGPT is a prototype artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI which specialises in dialogue. The chatbot is fine-tuned with supervised and reinforcement learning techniques. It interacts conversationally and can ask follow-up questions, admit mistakes, reject inappropriate requests, and give detailed responses.
As with all AI, there are some potential downsides and various legal risks involved.
One of the top issues is the potential to violate people’s privacy. This risk increases as they become more advanced and can collect and process vast amounts of data. Its ability to monitor and analyse behaviour, lends itself to use of that data without direct consent or even knowledge of the data subject.
AI also has the potential to make biased or discriminatory decisions. They are often trained on large datasets (which can contain biases) leading to unintentional, nonetheless unfair or even discriminatory decisions.
As AI systems become more advanced and operate autonomously, they risk causing harmto people or the environment. Think of an autonomous vehicle operated by an AI system causing injury. Where does responsibility lie? There are also concerns about the environmental impact of AI systems, as they often require large amounts of energy and computing power to operate.
CLOUD POPULARITY TO INCREASE EVEN MORE
Technology research firm Gartner reports that Cloud popularity will grow by 20.7% in the next year. It is predicted that industry Cloud platforms being used by more than 50% of enterprises by 2027.
As the popularity of Cloud services grows, businesses need to review the terms of using these services to identify and mitigate the risks. Too many put all their trust (and data) into a Cloud software service’s hands. Here, a loss of data would have devastating consequences. The best way to mitigate risk is to work with an expert who can help you devise internal processes to protect data, maintain control and plan for worst-case scenarios.
THE RISE OF THE SUPERAPP
A superapp is a mobile application that offers a wide range of services – social networking, messaging, gaming, e-commerce, and more. They act as a single port to a wide range of virtual products, the most well-known example being WeChat. The app allows a single user to combine various apps and services into one offering. This gives the potential to revolutionise the way people access and use digital services.
A very important legal consideration is the potential for SuperApps to violate privacy. This is because they are able to collect such large amounts of data and this is far greater than a single app.
They could use them to engage in anti-competitive behavior. They offer a wide range of services. This gives them the potential to become dominant in multiple markets, excluding competitors and limiting consumer choice.
Intellectual property is a third concern. A single app could lead to sc if large amounts of IP from different sources are incorporated. This would give rise to potential disputes of ownership.
Overall, the legal implications of superapps are still being explored and debated.
THE METAVERSE FUTURE
“Metaverse” refers to a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of the real and virtual worlds.
The Metaverse started out and is still known for its presence in the gaming world. Legal issues herecentres mainly around privacy, anti-competitive behaviour as an aggregator of services and products as well as some intellectual property issues to consider.
However, the interesting development (expected to grow in 2023), is its latest applications in industry and business. The concept of the “metaverse for good” as such. Some interesting applications so far has been in the fields of training a support. Imagine taking training times down from weeks to days. The trainee can wear interactive glasses overlaid with various functionalities to achieve this.
It brings with it the potential to have multiple specialists in one place, albeit virtually. These can give immediate advice on a situation. This advice could include fixing a specialist machine or helping another surgeon in the operating room thousands of miles away. Sharing expertise will be revolutionised.
These possibilities are incredible, but there are issues for consideration, such as liability, not to mention privacy issues.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE METAVERSE
As technology continues to grow in significance, one can only hope that industry leaders, law and policymakers will ensure they address the issues that will inevitably arise.
*The information in this article is not legal advice. You should always have a specialist consider your particular circumstances.
