Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, and Meta AI represent a stronger threat to data privacy than the social media juggernauts that cemented themselves in the past two decades, according to new research on the sentiments of older individuals from Malwarebytes. <\/p>\n
A combined 54% of people between the ages of 60 and 78 told Malwarebytes that they \u201cagree\u201d or \u201cstrongly agree\u201d that ChatGPT and similar generative AI tools \u201care more of a threat than social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter\/X, etc.) concerning personal data misuse.\u201d And an even larger share of 82% said they \u201cagree\u201d or \u201cstrongly agree\u201d that they are \u201cconcerned with the security and privacy of my personal data and those I interact with when using AI tools.\u201d <\/p>\n
The findings arrive at an important time for consumers, as AI developers increasingly integrate their tools into everyday online life\u2014from Meta suggesting that users lean on AI to write direct messages on Instagram to Google forcing users by default to receive \u201cGemini\u201d results for basic searches. With little choice in the matter, consumers are responding with robust pushback. <\/p>\n
For this research, Malwarebytes conducted a pulse survey of its newsletter readers in October via the Alchemer Survey Platform. In total, 851 people across the globe responded. Malwarebytes then focused its analysis on survey participants who belong to the Baby Boomer generation. <\/p>\n
Malwarebytes found that: <\/p>\n
Since San Francisco-based AI developer OpenAI released ChatGPT two years ago to the public, \u201cgenerative\u201d artificial intelligence has spread into nearly every corner of online life. <\/p>\n
Countless companies have integrated the technology into their customer support services with the help of AI-powered chatbots (which caused a problem for one California car dealer when its own AI chat bot promised to sell a customer a 2024 Chevy Tahoe for just $1<\/a>). Emotional support and mental health providers have toyed with having their clients speak directly with AI chatbots when experiencing a crisis (to middling results<\/a>). Audio production companies now advertise features to generate spoken text based off samples of recorded podcasts, art-sharing platforms regularly face scandals of AI-generated \u201cstolen<\/a>\u201d work, and even AI \u201cgirlfriends\u201d<\/a>\u2014and their scantily-clad, AI-generated avatars\u2014are on offer today. <\/p>\n The public are unconvinced. <\/p>\n According to Malwarebytes\u2019 research, Baby Boomers do not trust generative AI, the companies making it, or the tools that implement it. <\/p>\n A full 75% of Baby Boomers said they \u201cagree\u201d or \u201cstrongly agree\u201d that they are \u201cfearful of what the future will bring with AI.\u201d Those sentiments are reflected in the 47% of Baby Boomers who said they \u201cdisagree\u201d or \u201cstrongly disagree\u201d that \u201cgenerative AI tools are good for society.\u201d <\/p>\n In particular, Baby Boomers shared a broad concern over how these tools\u2014and the developers behind them\u2014collect and use their data. <\/p>\n More than 80% of Baby Boomers agreed that they held the following concerns about generative AI tools: <\/p>\n The impact on behavior here is immediate, as 71% of Baby Boomers said they \u201crefrain from including certain data\/information (e.g., names, metrics) when using generative AI tools due to concerns over security or privacy.\u201d <\/p>\n The companies behind these AI tools also have yet to win over Baby Boomers, as 87% said they \u201cdisagree\u201d or \u201cstrongly disagree\u201d that they \u201ctrust generative AI companies to be transparent about potential biases in their systems.\u201d <\/p>\n Perhaps this nearly uniform distrust in generative AI\u2014in the technology itself, in its implementation, and in its developers\u2014is at the root of a broad disinterest from Baby Boomers. An enormous share of this population, at 71%, said they had never used these tools before. <\/p>\n The statistic is difficult to believe, primarily because Google began powering everyday search requests with its own AI tool back in May 2024. Now, when users ask a simple question on Google, they will receive an \u201cAI overview\u201d at the top of their results. This functionality is powered by Gemini<\/a>\u2014Google\u2019s own tool that, much like ChatGPT, can generate images, answer questions, fine-tune recipes, and deliver workout routines. <\/p>\n Whether or not users know about this, and whether they consider this \u201cusing\u201d generative AI, is unclear. What is clear, however, is that a generative AI tool created by one of the largest companies in the world is being pushed into the daily workstreams of a population that is unconvinced, uncomfortable, and unsold on the entire experiment. <\/p>\n Coupled with the high levels of distrust that Baby Boomers have for generative AI are widespread feelings that many corrective measures would have little impact. <\/p>\n Baby Boomers were asked about a variety of restrictions, regulations, and external controls that would make them \u201cfeel more secure about using generative AI tools,\u201d but few of those controls gained mass approval. <\/p>\n For instance, \u201cdetailed reports on how data is stored and used\u201d only gained the interest of 44% of Baby Boomers, and \u201cgovernment regulation\u201d ranked even lower, with just 35% of survey participants. \u201cRegular security audits by third parties\u201d and \u201cclear information on what data is collected\u201d piqued the interest of 52% and 53% of Baby Boomers, respectively, but perhaps the most revealing answers came from the suggestions that the survey participants wrote in themselves. <\/p>\n Several participants specifically asked for the ability to delete any personal data ingested by the AI tools, and other participants tied their distrust to today\u2019s model of online corporate success, believing that any large company will collect and sell their data to stay afloat. <\/p>\n But frequently, participants also said they could not be swayed at all to use generative AI. As one respondent wrote: <\/p>\n \u201cThere is nothing that would make me comfortable with it.\u201d <\/p>\n Whether Baby Boomers represent a desirable customer segment for AI developers is unknown, but for many survey participants, that likely doesn\u2019t matter. It\u2019s already too late. <\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
Few paths to improvement <\/strong> <\/h2>\n