Artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining traction, especially generative AI, in businesses across many industries.
General AI, also known as artificial general intelligence, broadly refers to the concept of computer systems and robotics that possess human-like intelligence and autonomy — think Disney Pixar’s WALL-E.
Generative AI uses various machine learning techniques to generate new content from patterns learned from training data. These outputs can be text, images, music or anything else that can be represented digitally.
Uses of Generative AI
The use of generative AI varies from industry to industry and is more established in some than in others. Current and proposed uses include the following:
- Healthcare: Generative AI is being explored as a tool for accelerating drug discovery.
- Digital marketing: Advertisers, salespeople and commerce teams can use generative AI to craft personalized campaigns and adapt content to consumers’ preferences.
- Education: Some educational tools are beginning to incorporate generative AI to develop customized learning materials that cater to students’ individual learning styles.
- Finance: Generative AI is one of the many tools within complex financial systems to analyze market patterns and assist financial analysts.
- Environment: In environmental science, researchers use generative AI models to predict weather patterns and simulate the effects of climate change.
Ways that Generative AI will Impact You Daily >>
Cybercriminals Using Generative AI
Business email compromises have become the top attack method for cybercriminals using generative AI. Attackers are using generative AI to create phishing emails without the glaring red flags such as formatting issues, atypical syntax, incorrect grammar, punctuation, spelling and email addresses.
“The danger of generative AI in email attacks is that it allows threat actors to write increasingly sophisticated content, making it more likely that their target will be deceived into clicking a link or following their instructions,” Dan Shiebler, head of machine learning at Abnormal said, adding that AI can also be used to create greater personalization.
Good AI, Bad AI (& Us)
Think of it as the two sides of the same coin. As cybercriminals use AI to target their victims, the best AI-driven tools are able to baseline normal behavior across the email environment. Because of the ability to look for compromise indicators, they can detect the anomalies that may indicate a potential attack, no matter if the anomalies were created by a human or AI.
Remember – as powerful as AI is, the human factor can never be replaced. We (as employees) are the best and last line of defense against cybercriminals. That means continually practicing good cybersecurity hygiene:
- Staff training
- Email red flags
- Multi-factor authentication
- Patch management
- Layer of cybersecurity