In my profession, we’re always striving to “bake in” requirements by design. There are many great reasons for this. Most people hate talking about governance and requirements, especially if it impacts how they work. Also, there’s a lot to know and remember! It’s easier for everyone if systems automatically include requirements and standards. Then nobody has to think about it.
One example of this is protecting personally identifiable information (PII). Systems can automatically encrypt or anonymize anything identified as PII by design if an employee tries to send it. This could include names, phone numbers, ID numbers, etc. Then it can’t be mistakenly, or maliciously, shared with people who shouldn’t have access. The solution already includes the requirement to protect and handle sensitive, personal information properly. By incorporating the requirement into the design, the information is safeguarded. This also prevents an employee from making a mistake. Nobody has to think about it.
However, I have mixed feelings about this when it comes to AI, the applications I use, and new technology. I’m overdue for a new laptop. My current one doesn’t even have enough memory to upgrade for almost 2 years. It’s just a matter of time before something breaks in a bad way. I also can’t increase the memory on my particular model because of the design. (Talk about building in customer retention by design!). While reviewing new Apple devices, I felt a little turned off by the “Apple Intelligence” included by default.
First of all, I have no idea what this is, what it’s capable of doing, or if it will be helpful to me. I don’t like the idea of “intelligence” baked into my new computer by design without the option to refuse it. Now of course it could end up being a helpful, useful feature. Though I generally prefer to understand more about how these things work before blindly accepting them.
Now, I find this “intelligence” appearing more often in things I use everyday. For example, every time I search on Google, AI generates the first result. It’s tempting to use, but part of me doesn’t trust it. Most of the time I end up ignoring this and searching for the answer in another source. I do find some uses of “intelligence” helpful, but I prefer to have a choice rather than accepting it by design.