I conducted an experiment using my search history. After gathering search data from the previous month, I inputted this information into the GPT4 model, along with a simple question: “Dear AI model, please tell me what you can deduce about the person who used these search terms.”
The results were astounding. Using only one month of search data and a vague question, the AI model accurately pinpointed my location, estimated my age and gender, deduced the ages and genders of my children, identified my occupation, political views, hobbies, health concerns, and much more. It is alarming to consider what could be revealed with 20 years of online activity and more targeted inquiries.
This led me to contemplate the privacy implications of such powerful profiling abilities. It is inevitable that this information will not remain confidential. Drawing parallels to companies that provide analysis of your physical DNA, imagine a company that provides analysis of your digital activity DNA — let’s call it “myprofile.ai.” This service would allow users to grant access to their online activity in exchange for an AI-generated personal profile.
Some people with attractive AI-generated profiles may proudly share them with friends and include them in their resumes. As employers receive these reports, they may begin to encourage job applicants to submit them to improve their chances of employment. Eventually, providing these reports may become a crucial aspect of the job application process, and those who refuse may be seen as concealing something.
The same goes for other industries like insurance and banking. Everyone will ask for these reports. At first politely, later as a demand. Refusing to supply them may lead to implication and suspicion. We can assume that myprofile.ai adheres to strict ethical standards and guarantees 100% privacy, but it would not change anything. Our privacy is going to be violated.
So, how can you safeguard your privacy? First and foremost, delete your online activity history immediately. Once a service like myprofile.ai gains popularity and becomes mainstream, erasing your history may be seen as suspicious. Be proactive by deleting it now. It won’t be suspicious if you did it in early 2023. You may download and store your history privately if you think you may need it for some reason in the future. Moving forward, be careful of your online behavior. Act as if everything you do online will become public knowledge. For confidential online activities, use incognito mode or other privacy-oriented browsing options.