Artificial intelligence: Can it forget what it learns?

As the latest wave of artificial intelligence systems rapidly comes under the scrutiny of legal and policy frameworks, a captivating question is taking center stage: How can AI forget what it has learned? Can the European Union’s “right to be forgotten” regulations also apply to AI?

In the background, a classic Turkish art music song by Nesrin Sipahi plays on a record: “That first glance that fills the heart is unforgettable, unforgettable.” Indeed, every song, poem and work of art is as much a collective memory of society as it is of the artist. But should AI systems also share this memory?

Already plagued by copyright issues, AI is now facing challenges in the domain of learning as well. Previously, the concept of the “right to be forgotten” in search engines and social media, as defined by the European Union, sparked debates on whether it could be extended to AI.

The rule allows individuals to request that organizations remove and delete personal information about them from online platforms.

An article by Politico discusses this issue in-depth.

Given the immense energy required for AI systems to learn faster and more efficiently while ingesting vast amounts of information, expecting them to forget may seem like an odd goal.

However, the owners of this information also have a stake in the matter. As the number of publishers signing licensing agreements with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI increases, questions arise about what will happen when these agreements expire, how publishing houses will retract access and whether it is technically possible to erase their editorial content from future queries.

Regulators in Europe aim to apply existing digital law, the Digital Services Act, to new platforms. This might mean that AI would need to “forget” information it has memorized about people.

Difficult but not impossible

So, is there a way to erase what an AI system has already learned without retraining the model from scratch? This is a much more complex issue than deleting pieces of information from a database.

In fact, a new research area called machine learning has emerged in recent years to find out what methods can be used to make AI models selectively and retrospectively forget or at least approximate their training data.

Researchers claim that if they can develop easier ways for AI to completely forget information, it would facilitate the clean implementation of these agreements and regulations.

True meaning of learning

It’s not just the new generative AI models that have sparked this question.

Researchers began contemplating machine unlearning after the EU’s 2014 ruling granting residents the legal “right to be forgotten,” allowing them to request the deletion of personal data from internet searches and other digital records.

Generative AI models teach themselves from existing data patterns using neural networks that mimic the human brain. Even the scientists who create these models can’t fully explain how this self-learning happens, making it nearly impossible to create algorithms that can reverse the learning process.

They need to prevent the influence of specific data while resisting attempts to extract this information through jailbreak attacks and maintaining the model’s overall performance.

Türk Telekom maintains mobile, fiber growth momentum

One of Türkiye’s leading telecommunications and technology companies, Türk Telekom, has said its consolidated revenues rose by 6% annually in the first quarter of the year to reach TL 28 billion ($867.18 million).

The financial results showed its EBITDA – earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization – increased by 23% to TL 10.3 billion, while its EBITDA margin improved by 510 basis points to 36.6% compared to the previous year.

Türk Telekom’s net profit in the first quarter stood at just over TL 1 billion.

The company ended 2023 as the investment leader in its sector. From January through March, it injected another TL 4.6 billion, and its financial expenses reached TL 6.9 million.

Fiber reaches 32.2 million households

The number of households using fiber in Türkiye continues to increase, as highlighted by Türk Telekom’s results.

According to the company, the number of its mobile subscribers reached 26.2 million and the number of households with fiber access extended to 32.2 million.

Türk Telekom continues to expand its fiber infrastructure across all 81 provinces in Türkiye, preparing the country for future technologies. As of the first quarter, its fiber network had reached 441,000 kilometers (274,024 miles).

Revenue growth in line with expectations

“With our technological expertise and investments, we are leading Türkiye’s digital transformation journey and working with all our strength to lead the vision of becoming a technology-producing and exporting country. With the momentum continuing in our pioneering lines of business, we made a solid start to 2024 in line with the forecast set we shared for the whole year,” said Türk Telekom CEO Umit Önal.

He emphasized that the year began positively, with revenue growth meeting expectations and the EBITDA margin exceeding projections. Despite intense competition in the market, mobile services continued to drive consolidated revenue growth. He underscored that fixed broadband also expanded its contribution, aligning with the anticipated acceleration in average revenue per user (ARPU) growth, and the company is taking necessary actions to further enhance this segment.

‘Ready for the technologies of tomorrow’

Emphasizing that they play a locomotive role in Türkiye’s digital transformation journey, Önal said the company is weaving fiber networks across every corner of the country with the motto of “high-speed accessible internet for everyone.”

“We continue our investments with great motivation and dedication in the field of fiber, which is one of the indispensables for the technologies of tomorrow. As of the first quarter of the year, our fiber network length, which reached 441,000 kilometers, covers 32.2 million households. Our fiber subscriber base reached 13 million in the first quarter of 2024, while our FTTC (Fiber to the Cabinet) subscriber base was 8.6 million and our FTTH/B (Fiber to the Home/Building) base increased to 4.5 million,” he noted.

“We will continue to lead the vision of making the Century of Türkiye a digital one by reflecting our high technology accumulation to all areas of life. We continue our work without slowing down toward a Türkiye that produces its own technology in every sector and exports it to the world.”

Önal said Türk Telekom is the most 5G-ready operator in Türkiye thanks to its initiatives.

“We have achieved innovative works such as Türkiye’s first private industrial 5G mobile network, the first live 5G match broadcast, the first online remote surgery supported by 5G, the first use of smart tractors in agriculture, and the world’s first 5G VR Puppet Theater,” he noted.

“We are taking on the architecture of the digital future by directing every area of life with our technological expertise.”

Turkish fintech Sipay secures $15M investment

Sipay, one of the leading fintech companies in Türkiye, has completed its first investment round and announced it at Money 20/20.

It raised $15 million in the round led by Anfa VC, a global investment firm known for its long-term investments and contributions to entrepreneurial collaborations.

The investment round, which attracted significant interest from leading figures in the financial technology sector, was joined by experienced investors such as Jitendra Gupta of Citrus Pay and Jupiter, Amrish Rau from Pine Labs, Kunal Shah from CRED, Ravish Naresh of Khatabook and Edward Lando from Pareto Holdings.

Sipay, which provides end-to-end services in the field of financial technologies, will use the investment to expand its product range, develop innovative solutions, enter new markets, and further increase its global strength.

Growth, innovative products

Nezih Sipahioğlu, founder and global CEO of Sipay, suggested the company continues to be a pioneer in fintech trends and provides its users with the most innovative solutions in the digital age, where needs and expectations are changing rapidly.

“This investment is also a testament to the disciplined work and dedication of our team. With this financing, we will accelerate our work on artificial intelligence, hyper-personalization, embedded finance, blockchain and virtual reality while also entering new markets,” said Sipahioğlu.

“By creating a comprehensive financial marketplace that offers a wide range of products and services on a single platform, we will enable our users to choose the most suitable solutions for their commercial and personal financial needs.”

Idris Sami, partner at Anfa, said: “Nezih and his team have achieved a lot in a short time. We are very excited to partner with them.”

Hotels at risk of credential theft, malware infections

Well-known cybersecurity and antivirus provider Kaspersky has uncovered a new phishing scheme targeting hotel owners and staff. In this scheme, scammers attempt to steal credentials or infect computers with malware.

Fake emails that appear to be correspondence from former or potential guests exploit the importance the hospitality industry places on customer service to lure victims into a trap.

The deceptive emails mimic legal inquiries or complaints sent to the hotel’s public email addresses, appearing to come from guests or posing as urgent requests to address user comments on Booking.com. In reality, these emails aim to trick hotel employees into revealing their credentials or downloading malicious malware.

Staff fall into trap

Scammers craft their emails with plausible reasons to appear as genuine customer requests or complaints designed to capture the attention of hotel staff.

Given the high value placed on reputation in the hospitality industry, staff are more likely to respond promptly to these emails. This eagerness increases the likelihood of clicking on malicious links or opening harmful attachments, further encouraging them to fall into the trap, leading to potential security breaches.

Fraudsters use free email services like Gmail, which are commonly used by guests, making it more difficult for hotel staff to distinguish between legitimate messages and threats.

Impersonating former guests

The fraudulent emails typically fall into two categories.

The first category involves complaints from former guests, detailing negative experiences such as rude staff or unclean rooms, and sometimes even include references to photos or videos. The goal is to entice staff into clicking on links or opening attachments containing malware.

The second category involves emails mimicking inquiries from potential guests, asking about facilities, prices, or availability, or seeking assistance with travel planning. The purpose is to gather credentials for use in future attack schemes or for sale on darknet forums.

135 million malware

According to Kaspersky’s annual spam and phishing report, email phishing and malware continue to pose significant cyber threats.

Last year, Kaspersky’s Mail Anti-Virus system blocked more than 135.98 million malicious email attachments, while the Anti-Phishing system prevented access attempts to 709.59 million phishing links.

Phishing and malware emails often impersonate trusted organizations and employ sophisticated social engineering tactics to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information or interacting with malicious links.