AI risks need precision regulations: IBM India's Patel

If there’s one thing that people are talking too much about, it’s artificial intelligence (AI) but on the other hand, if there’s one thing that people aren’t talking enough about, it’s the negative implications of AI. From intravenous cyber-crimes to heavy carbon footprint, AI acts like a double-edged sword that, despite its futuristic capabilities, can potentially affect individuals, economies and societies.

AI has enhanced security walls and software of anti-malware and fraud-detection by detecting automated attacks quicker than a human brain ever could. However, like all technological advancements, AI has a flip side. The more it progresses and is leveraged by businesses, the more it poses a risk to cyber security and climate change.

The average cost of a data breach in India reached ₹17.9 crores in 2023, according to a report by IBM. This records an all-time high for the report and almost a 28% increase since 2020.

Sandip Patel, managing director of IBM India Private Limited, believes that security challenges of these kinds will continue to grow as attackers use AI tools for more sophisticated and targeted attacks.

To combat these challenges, the way to proceed forward is to look at regulating AI through precision regulations– wherein wherever you see vulnerabilities, that’s where you start to build out regulations and checks and balances and controls. “This will enable people to drive more responsible AI and create a security posture that will enable businesses in a better manner,” he adds.

As per the report, detection and escalation costs increased by 45% during the aforementioned period, accounting for the largest share of breach costs, indicating a move towards more intricate breach investigations. Phishing accounted for nearly 22% as the most common type of attack in India, followed by stolen or compromised credentials at 16%.

Social engineering was the costliest root cause of breaches at ₹19.1 crores, followed by malicious insider threats, which amounted to approximately ₹18.8 crores.

“Amidst these regulatory developments, like the DPDP act, a huge emphasis is being placed by the government and industry on safeguarding critical infrastructure and it reflects the heightened awareness about evolving cyber security risks and the need for robust AI-enabled solutions.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, passed by the Lok Sabha on August 7, 2023, realises both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process such personal data for legal purposes.

Meanwhile IBM’s focus in India has been on driving speed and accuracy for their security portfolio. The company has been infusing several capabilities into their AI portfolio to reduce the time deficit that many businesses face today in threat detection as response.

“We are continuing to invest in enhancing the efficacy across the security portfolio by spanning software and services,” Patel says.

IBM has also invested in a security command centre, called X-Force Cyber Range, in Bengaluru, a pioneer move, that helps Indian businesses understand their security posture and prepare for the increasing threat of cyber-attacks to organisations across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

AI & sustainability

Research suggests that AI’s energy demands have shot up drastically. The emissions emitted from the infrastructure that supports AI, such as the data centres around the world, have increased significantly. A study by MIT revealed that cloud now has a larger carbon footprint than the entire aviation sector, and a single data center can possibly consume as much electricity as 50,000 households.

Against the backdrop of a global conviction to achieve net zero carbon footprint by 2070, can AI really evolve without leaving a massive carbon footprint? On that note, Patel believes that this is an attainable goal and can be achieved hand in glove.

“Innovation will continue to happen but there’s a growing recognition that greener technologies, sustainable operations and reduced carbon footprint are important,” he says.

The existing and future IBM infrastructure is going to be more sustainably conscious and drive a reduced carbon footprint, he says, through software solutions, of the technology that they have built including green data centres.

“People will have to work through different levers. The infrastructure, whether it is large data centres among others, that AI runs on, will need to be figured out how to make green,” he adds.