Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee warns of AI risks, calls for data protection

Tim Berners-Lee, the principal inventor of the World Wide Web, has issued a stark warning regarding the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI). He urges for the preservation of the internet's foundational values, emphasizing the importance of user control over personal data in the face of AI's growing influence.

“

The predominance of the person, the individual is at the heart of these values and it is important that people use this technology to ensure that their clients, their citizens, keep control of their own data.

"The predominance of the person, the individual," is central to these values, Berners-Lee stated in a recent interview. He stressed that technology should empower individuals to maintain control over their data, particularly as AI models are trained on vast amounts of web data. While acknowledging AI as an "exciting" innovation, he believes it requires a framework for responsible development.

“

AI models constitute a new layer, different from the internet. They use the fact that the web contains a huge amount of data to be trained.

Berners-Lee highlighted the absence of a dedicated collaborative body for AI, unlike the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that governs web standards. He co-founded the startup Inrupt in 2018 to champion data protection, recognizing that AI's capabilities are intrinsically linked to the data it processes. The push for user data control comes amid growing concerns from authorities in Europe and the United States regarding how AI models utilize personal information.

“

Without data, (AI models) cannot exist.