Meredith Whittaker, head of the encrypted messaging app Signal, criticized AI tools for their reliance on mass surveillance and control over our lives, during an interview with AFP on Thursday.

Speaking at the VivaTech conference in Paris, she argued that the enthusiasm for AI overlooks its dependence on extensive data collection, a practice rooted in the 1990s US tech industry’s business model.

Whittaker, a former Google employee and co-founder of the AI Now Institute at NYU, campaigns for privacy and opposes data extraction-driven business models.

Whittaker expressed skepticism about the AI industry’s direction, highlighting the extensive data AI systems require and generate, which can influence and control lives, Barron’s reported.

She pointed out that AI is controlled by a few powerful, unaccountable companies and is mostly imposed on people by employers, law enforcement, and governments for purposes that may not benefit society.

She also criticized AI firms for claiming to address the climate crisis while simultaneously profiting from fossil fuel companies.

Written by B.C. Begley