How generative AI is reshaping security

Whitepaper

When it comes to security, is GenAI a tool for good or for evil? Enterprise security teams are grappling with what this emerging technology means for their organizations. And they increasingly find that generative AI brings both opportunity and risk.

January 17, 20247 mins

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GenAI: A new tool for everything

Without a doubt, one of the most important recent technological innovations is generative artificial intelligence (genAI). When ChatGPT launched at the end of November 2022, it ushered in a new era of computing.

You can use GenAI to write an article, or to output the code for your latest software update. It can generate images that look like realistic photos, or create videos and audio that are almost indistinguishable from the real thing. It can scour the web and serve up answers to nearly any question you have. And we’ve just scratched the surface of what this new technology might be capable of.

Organizations are understandably excited about the opportunities that genAI represents. An AWS and MIT survey found that 80% of chief data officers believe genAI will transform their organizations, and 45% said their companies had already adopted it widely.

“Generative AI has the potential to be the most disruptive technology we’ve seen to date,” says Steve Chase, U.S. Consulting Leader for KPMG. “It will fundamentally change business models, providing new opportunities for growth, efficiency, and innovation, while surfacing significant risks and challenges. For leaders to harness the enormous potential of generative AI, they must set a clear strategy that quickly moves their organization from experimentation into industrialization.”

Against this backdrop, managers are feeling the pressure to start using genAI as quickly as possible. But some are understandably hesitant. For all its potential benefits, generative AI also presents some significant risks.

Many security leaders are still struggling to formulate a plan for if, or how, they will handle generative AI. In the AWS and MIT survey, 16% of chief data officers said their companies had completely banned the use of genAI, and only 6% said they were using genAI in production. The rest were experimenting at the individual, team, or organizational level, trying to better understand the capabilities of this tool. Ultimately, that’s what genAI is — a tool. And like any tool, it can be used for good or for evil.

From a cybersecurity perspective, it’s clear that generative AI has major implications for three different groups of people: security teams, employees at large, and bad actors inside, or outside the organization.