Global Artificial Intelligence Conference 2018: The value of context

When AI is developed out of context, it can become obsolete immediately. Barkai pointed to when AI was first developed to replace a motor in a starter jet. Because the developers of the robotic assistance didn’t supply context — intelligence of the mechanic team and processes of a mechanic’s work — the AI only assisted in simple tasks and ended up making the existing motor-replacement process even more difficult, Barkai said.

“Our relationship to AI demonstrates huge insensitivity to needs and work environment,” he added.

Michael Roytman, chief data scientist at Kenna Security, based in San Francisco, discussed how the implementation of AI in a security setting can gauge the real value of predictive analytics. However, while advanced AI algorithms can detect vulnerabilities, it still needs to work alongside humans to be programmed for maximum efficiency.

“Attackers are about 60 to 80 days out from the vulnerability being discovered to using it for attack,” Rotyman said.

If the rate of exploitation and rate of remediation is the same — 60 to 90 days — companies are essentially just treading water, he added.

With only roughly 2% of all vulnerabilities successfully exploited, Rotyman suggested implementing a smarter and more context-driven AI system with technology that can identify the vulnerability and assess its potential exploitation. When a new vulnerability is discovered, an AI system developed with context can evaluate risk and determine whether businesses should view this new vulnerability as a severe, moderate or mild threat.