AI experts join Snap's Security Advisory Board

AI experts join Snap's Security Advisory Board

Earlier this year, Snap announced that it was seeking applications from qualified experts in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) to serve on its Safety Advisory Board (SAB), which currently consists of 16 professionals and three youth advocates and serves as a sounding board for Snap's platform security issues. . We are pleased to share that two AI experts have joined our board and were present at the first face-to-face meeting of the new SAB, which took place last month.

Meeri Haataja, CEO of Finland-based firm Saidot, and U.S. lawyer Patrick K. Lin, author of Machine See Machine Do, were chosen from dozens of applicants for two reserved AI expert seats at Snap's SAB. Meeri and Patrick bring us tremendous knowledge and experience and help enrich our thinking about topics at the intersection of AI and online security. Here are a few comments in Meeri and Patrick's own words:

Meeri: “I am very excited to join this group and collaborate with Snap on their AI journey. We are living in a pivotal time where AI technologies are creating new opportunities for social media companies to develop and improve their values and services. With such a scale of impact, Snap has an incredibly important responsibility to carefully explore these new AI opportunities and prioritize the well-being of its young users, protecting them from potential risks. “I feel privileged to collaborate with Snap through this diverse Security Advisory Board to help ensure safe and responsible AI deployments and hopefully also contribute to establishing responsible industry practices for AI in social media.”

Patrick: “AI offers exciting opportunities to introduce new interactions and features in social media. However, the potential benefits of AI cannot be fully realized without in-depth and ongoing discussions about the technology's risks. It's promising to see that Snap is recognizing these risks and, in doing so, considering how these technologies can be used to foster a safer digital space, especially for children and young people. "As an AI expert on Snap's Security Advisory Board, I look forward to contributing to these ongoing efforts."

In 2022, we expanded and restructured our SAB board to include a more diverse group of professionals from different geographies, disciplines and security-related roles. We also selected three members of Generation Z, each of whom are heavy users of Snapchat, to ensure that the voice of youth is represented, which is crucial at this strategic level. The emergence and evolution of My AI has necessitated us to expand our SAB board to include experts in this unique and growing field.

We thank Meeri and Patrick, as well as all of our SAB members, for the insightful insights and perspectives they shared during our first in-person meeting at Snap headquarters last month. Collectively, we discussed new product features and functionalities, complex global legal and regulatory issues, and ideas for bringing important awareness and informational tips to Snapchat users and their parents about staying safe.

We look forward to working with SAB in the months and years to come.

- Jacqueline Beauchere, Snap World Head of Platform Security