Zoom, the widely used video conferencing application prominent in corporate circles, has made a public announcement concerning its intention to employ user data for the training of its Artificial Intelligence (AI) models. Noteworthy updates to the regulations associated with this new policy were introduced on July 28th of this year and subsequently disclosed as of August 8th, 2023.
Per information provided by Zoom, the platform will leverage customer data to refine and calibrate its machine learning models. It is important to highlight that the company intends to use this information only with the explicit consent of its users, as explicitly outlined in its policy documentation presented during the sign-in process or initial log-in procedure.
Sources indicate that the company plans to responsibly harness the generated data within the boundaries permitted by the laws of the respective jurisdiction, demonstrating a mindful approach to its utilization.
Despite the meticulous details outlined in Zoom’s privacy policy that assert the exclusion of audio, video, and chat-related content for the training of its AI models, there appears to be a discrepancy between these claims and the actual practices.
Recall that in June of 2023, a coalition of privacy advocates, led in part by Twitter’s CEO Elon Musk, filed a legal suit against Microsoft, the parent company of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. This lawsuit sought to curtail the covert use of user-generated data for the training of upcoming AI models, urging for regulatory measures to prevent the misuse of such technology.
In light of these circumstances, it prompts consideration as to whether Zoom should also be held to a similar standard. The ambiguity surrounding the activities occurring within vast data centers housing immense volumes of data raises questions about the precise nature of storage, processing, and analysis – encompassing metadata or complete content, whether it be in audio, video, or textual format.
Yet, the inquiry persists: Why did Zoom invest in Anthropic, the AI company affiliated with Google, actively engaged in the development of the AI assistant known as Claude?
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