Poisoning an AI system can be alarmingly easy. Attackers can manipulate the data sets used to train AI, making subtle changes to parameters or crafting scenarios that are carefully designed to avoid raising suspicion while gradually steering AI in the desired direction.

Steve Durbin is Managing Director, Information Security Forum. He is a frequent speaker on the Board's role in cybersecurity and technology. As artificial intelligence (AI) breaks into the mainstream, there is a great deal of misinformation and confusion about what it's capable of and the potential risks it poses. Our culture is rich with dystopian visions of human ruin at the feet of all-knowing machines. But many people also appreciate the potential good AI might do for us through the improvements and insights it could bring.