From retail to the military, ‘intelligent connectivity’ raises ethical dilemmas
Artificial intelligence gets tons of press – and for good reason. But AI’s fast-rising expertise lies not just within the matrix of its own nifty algorithms, but also in its wider connections.
It’s about “intelligent connectivity” that relies on raw data – lots and lots of it – and on the communication networks that carry it.
This blend of technologies may be surrounding you at a large store like Walmart. Retailers fight for their target audience using sensors galore, stationed in their aisles and checkout lines. When AI sees patterns in customer interactions and the flow of inventory, the result can be a successful sales pitch.
Why We Wrote This
Artificial intelligence often works in concert with 5G wireless networks and internet-connected devices. As the influence of this technology trio grows, calls are rising for better public awareness of its impact on daily life and global dynamics.
AI is also finding its way onto actual battlefields. It can boost a soldier’s situational awareness, simplify communication, and improve decision-making.
The technology is emerging quickly – maybe too quickly, many cybersecurity analysts say. They caution that the public needs to know much more about how these systems work and about the ways in which their personal data is used.
“There are a lot of benefits of these technologies, but unfortunately, things always come with their own side effects,” says Abdul Yarali, a professor of cybersecurity and network management at Murray State University in Kentucky.
What makes up “intelligent connectivity”?
Intelligent connectivity is the term for how artificial intelligence, 5G networks, and internet-connected devices (the “Internet of Things,” or IoT) all work together. Each one is an integral part of that technological system. The promises of what this transformative technology can yield are legion: from driverless cars to hyperefficient smart cities. The concerns about privacy, security, and fairness implied by this league of three are also numerous.
- The IoT refers to the sensors in about 18.8 billion web-connected devices to date globally, from heaters to air purifiers to lights. All of them are “sensing” what’s going on, such as temperatures changing or people moving down a store aisle.
- 5G is the fifth generation of wireless technology. It’s a very fast mobile transmission network that vacuums up the IoT data and sends it out to be used.
- AI-driven computers increasingly can take that data and “decide” what to do with it. AI is based on algorithms that detect patterns and simulate human learning.
Since AI needs data before it can decide anything, the more data it can get and the faster it gets it, the smarter it can be. And 5G can transmit data to feed voracious appetite with minimal delay.
5G is in a neighborhood on the electromagnetic spectrum that was first used commercially in 2019. It’s at a higher frequency than, but not far from, radar’s spot on the spectrum, and it can accommodate more bandwidth demands than 4G ever could.
If 4G is like a small room with a growing party crowd and a lone DJ, 5G is like a major venue with a stage, an A-list band, and lots of room on the dance floor. 5G bandwidth was developed to make more room for the party.
Society now depends on “connectivity – anywhere, anytime,” says Alexander Wyglinski, director of the Wireless Innovation Laboratory at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. But as a result of that demand, bandwidth shortages are problematic, he says. Hence the need for 5G, and eventually 6G, which is in development.
Who is using this technology and how often?
On the battlefield, these sensors already afford soldiers situational awareness and a strategic advantage to help them win.
In retail, these same sensors afford corporate CEOs the opportunity to increase their profits. Internet-connected sensors, for instance, collect data on shoppers, including how they shop, what they like, and where they go first in the store. That data can be used to restock inventory more strategically or for marketing to customers.
Most big-box retailers, such as Walmart, have a regiment of sensors ready to greet shoppers, starting at the front door. In some of its Whole Foods locations, Amazon has introduced “dash carts,” which use sensors to scan items. This allows shoppers to skip the traditional checkout lane.
Walmart is a good example of intelligent connectivity hard at work, says Bruce Schneier, a lecturer at Harvard University and author of “Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles To Collect Your Data and Control Your World.”
“There are sensors everywhere in the store – 5G is moving that data around; AI is interpreting that data.” says Mr. Schneier. Walmart “will take that data; they will go to a data broker and say, ‘Hey, I got this data. Tell me more about this person.’”
And then, adds Mr. Schneier, shoppers will be treated differently at, say, a jewelry store, based on the data collected about them.
Walmart says it uses its sensors to guide inventory decisions. A request for comment went unanswered.
What are the privacy and ethical considerations?
Analysts flag several concerns with intelligent connectivity.
For one thing, sensors collect information in the aggregate about shoppers, but they can also identify individual people’s names and shopping history, says Zygmunt Haas, a computer scientist at the University of Texas at Dallas who researches sensor networks.
He says sensors transmit their information about customers to a 5G network, which then passes it to an AI processor. And here, in the realm of AI decision-making, is where many experts focus their concerns.
People may allow themselves to buy what they weren’t necessarily planning to, based on AI’s suggestions, says Dr. Yarali, author of “Intelligent Connectivity: AI, IoT, and 5G.” He likens it to a restaurant server who might recommend soup on a rainy day. The suggestion sounds logical, and the customer takes it. When AI multiplies similar referrals, is that helpful or manipulative?
Another concern about AI recommendations is when “predictions become self-fulfilling prophecies,” says Mark Coeckelbergh, a professor of media technology at the University of Vienna who studies AI ethics. “People start feeling unsafe … when it’s predicted that there’s a problem.”
And then, of course, sometimes AI “hallucinates,” or makes stuff up. “We cannot rely 100% on AI,” says Dr. Haas.
And according to a recent Nieman Lab report, “AI search engines fail[ed] to produce accurate citations in over 60% of tests.”
The ethical issues grow more numerous and urgent in military uses, in which human lives and the future of nations can be at stake.
What actions can consumers take?
Many experts in the field of intelligent connectivity support technological advances, while also stressing the need for consumer awareness. Some would like to see more public outcry, when necessary, about overzealous data-gathering.
“You have to do something as a voter,” says Mr. Schneier, “The problems are money in politics; the problems are lobbyists.”
The public can shift their own attitudes toward technology and pressure policymakers for more oversight, says Dr. Coeckelbergh. People “control the place we give technology in our lives,” he says, and can, for example, use phones less intensely.
Asking the bigger questions of what constitutes a happy life and true sense of community is key, he says – a step that encourages exercising that kind of moderation.
“In the age of technology we have to ask those questions again and see what we can use from our traditions, both secular and religious, to cope with what’s happening and to also find some guidance,” he says. “We can help each other.”
