BENGALURU: AI need not access our data to protect it, said Ann Dunkin, Former Chief Information Officer of the US Department of Energy, during a session on AI in cybersecurity at the Global Investors' Meet: Invest Karnataka 2025.
In the session titled 'AI, Cybersecurity and Government: Building digital resilience in an uncertain world', a question was raised on the threats to personal data of citizens due to the incorporation of AI in cybersecurity.
"Protection of personal data is crucial. When we rely on AI for protection of our data, we don't need to give access to our data to the AI to protect it" Dunkin said.
She also said that the 'bad guys' are using AI for phishing and other purposes and added that we too need to do something to protect ourselves while using AI.
She said "Every new technology brings good and bad with it. We have seen the bad with AI and now we need to find the good and harness it by finding solutions that are going to make the world better."
AI will help us in the clean energy transition and climate change, she said and added "This includes getting us to where we need to be in terms of clean energy and climate change by better planning, using better battery materials."
"I think AI will be more of an accelerator than a cost in the long term", Dunkin said.