It has been around in our cultures one form or another since the times of the Ancient Greeks and their myths, through to Frankenstein, and Asimov. This long and storied history cannot take away from the fact that AI is now front and center in our world. AI technology is both for Ericsson and our customers a key business enabler. Looking back at the history of AI, we see a recurring theme. Using AI wrongly, or without due diligence can lead to a widespread escalation of problems on many fronts.

Artificial intelligence magnifies the ability to analyze personal information in ways that may intrude on privacy interests. In fact many of the most interesting data sets for AI are those with a great deal of personal information. But as more countries and regions around the world solidify increasingly stringent privacy laws, companies that use AI must take those legal protections of privacy into account when setting up their systems. To avoid legal trouble and ensure public trust, AI users must seriously consider the varying privacy laws discussed below before launching any new program.

One of the most common use cases of artificial intelligence at the moment is its ability to handle massive datasets, processing and interpreting them. A task that human data analysts would take ages to complete, if at all, is performed in no time, and without the possibility of human error. At the same time, the average person creates an increasingly larger digital footprint, leaving a trace in the form of a vast amount of personal information on the internet. Corporations and governments, then, gather, store, and feed that information to powerful AI algorithms in order to learn as much as possible about that person for marketing (and other) purposes. All this has led to heated debates over the safety of our personal data and its potential misuse.

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I was recently asked to conduct a 2-hour workshop for the State of California Senior Legislators on the topic of "Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Privacy." Honored by the privilege of offering my perspective on these critical topics, I shared with my home-state legislators how significant opportunities await the state. I reviewed the once-in-a-generation opportunities awaiting the great State of California ("the State"), where decision makers could vastly improve their constituents' quality of life, while creating new sources of value and economic growth. We have historical experiences and references to revisit in discerning what the government can do to nurture our "Analytics Revolution." Notably, the Industrial Revolution, holds many lessons regarding the consequences of late and/or confusing government involvement and guidance (see Figure 1).

I was recently asked to conduct a 2-hour workshop for the State of California Senior Legislators on the topic of "Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Privacy." Honored by the privilege of offering my perspective on these critical topics, I shared with my home-state legislators how significant opportunities await the state. I reviewed the once-in-a-generation opportunities awaiting the great State of California ("the State"), where decision makers could vastly improve their constituents' quality of life, while creating new sources of value and economic growth. We have historical experiences and references to revisit in discerning what the government can do to nurture our "Analytics Revolution." Notably, the Industrial Revolution, holds many lessons regarding the consequences of late and/or confusing government involvement and guidance (see Figure 1).