The President of Signal Speaks to the WSJ
What Happens to Privacy in the Age of AI?
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On January 18th, the Wall Street Journal posted their interview with Meredith Whittaker, president of The Signal Foundation.* Whittaker is a veteran of Silicon Valley, having spent over a decade at Google leading product development and engineering teams. She knows how people in tech think.
She explains why AI has been constantly in the headlines for the last few years and drawing hundreds of billions in investment. Without stealing Whittaker’s thunder, it is not because AI will create a future with unlimited puppy dogs and rainbows.
At about 18 minutes, it is not a long listen, but we think the privacy-conscious will find it worth the time.
*Signal is a great (and free) alternative for those who don’t love that our online communications are constantly spied on. The American non-profit Signal Foundation Whittaker heads created the Signal messaging app, which allows end-to-end encryption of chat and phone calls. While other apps offer (or claim to offer), similar levels of encryption, they often come with ads or suspect associations. Signal has neither. I know from firsthand experience that Signal is trusted by insiders in the national security community, and national security reporters as well.
Whittaker is also a frequent contributor to the AI Now Institute, which is developing policy strategy to redirect AI development away from the current trajectory: unbridled commercial surveillance, consolidation of power in very few companies, and a lack of public accountability.