Artificial intelligence and privacy: A balancing exercise

The recent development of new technologies relying on artificial intelligence ("AI") across the world has shown the innovation, opportunities and potential value to society AI can undeniably bring. Partly due to the Covid crisis which encouraged the early adoption of automated processes, there has been a significant uptake of AI in recent times among businesses. AI is changing how companies operate across almost every sector, and notably fintech, healthcare, human resources, insurance, the internet of things, to name a few. Focussing on Ireland, an interesting study has shown that nearly two thirds of businesses are likely to use AI (or machine learning, one of AI's major subfields) by 2023. Many businesses see AI as being capable of bringing a competitive edge to the table by speeding up processes and driving cost savings.