Experts urge caution over use of Chinese AI DeepSeek
Experts urge caution over use of Chinese AI DeepSeek
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Oxford professor advises against putting private data on platform in case it could be shared with Chinese state. Experts have urged caution over rapidly embracing the Chinese artificial intelligence platform DeepSeek, citing concerns about it spreading misinformation and how the Chinese state might exploit users’ data.
The new low-cost AI wiped $1tn off the leading US tech stock index this week and it rapidly became the most downloaded free app in the UK and the US. Donald Trump called it a “wake-up call” for tech firms. Its emergence has shocked the tech world by apparently showing it can achieve a similar performance to widely used platforms such as ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost.
Michael Wooldridge, a professor of the foundations of AI at Oxford University, said it was not unreasonable to assume data inputted into the chatbot could be shared with the Chinese state. He said: “I think it’s fine to download it and ask it about the performance of Liverpool football club or chat about the history of the Roman empire, but would I recommend putting anything sensitive or personal or private on them? “Absolutely not … Because you don’t know where the data goes.”.
Dame Wendy Hall, a member of the United Nations high-level advisory body on AI, told the Guardian: “You can’t get away from the fact that if you are a Chinese tech company dealing with information you are subject to the Chinese government’s rules on what you can and cannot say.”.
The prime minister’s spokesperson, when asked if Downing Street would rule out using Chinese AI in Whitehall, said he would not “get ahead of specific models”. He said the advancements showed that the UK must “go further and faster to remove barriers to innovation” in AI.
