AI is set to transform connectivity and cybersecurity. What impact do industry leaders anticipate over the coming years?
According to the UK National Cybersecurity Centre’s 2024 report on the impact of AI on cyber threats, “AI will almost certainly increase the volume and heighten the impact of cyber-attacks over the next two years.”
This judgement highlights a key tension at the heart of today’s interconnected economy. On the one hand, warnings like the above highlight the risks AI could pose to businesses and their customers. On the other, AI also provides a huge opportunity for those companies working to build connectivity and strengthen cyber defences. According to McKinsey, new use cases for generative AI could have an economic impact of between $60 billion and $100 billion in the telecoms industry alone. In cybersecurity, meanwhile, the market for AI-powered solutions is set to hit £133.8 billion by 2030, up from $14.9 billion in 2021.
Given the high stakes, there is a growing conversation about how AI should be implemented in the industries that contribute most to our connected world – from 5G and broadband to cloud computing.
The Human Factor
While the temptation is to focus purely on the technology, several organisations highlight that it is important to keep sight of the people involved in its development, as well as those at the front line of securing our cyber defences.
For example, in its annual survey, The Chartered Institute of Information Security found that cybersecurity professionals, perhaps unsurprisingly, see AI and machine learning as the innovation that will have the biggest impact on cybersecurity. But the report goes on to highlight the human factors affecting the people who are defending against AI threats. For example, 50 per cent of survey respondents reported that day-to-day stress and workload pressures keep them awake at night, while 22 per cent reported that they work more than 48 hours each week, spotlighting the ongoing need for cyber resilience.
People are also front of mind for BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, which, in March, laid out a series of recommendations to support the ethical and safe use of AI. The headline proposal was that any technologist working with AI should be a registered professional held to account against an independent set of standards. Speaking at the organisation’s March policy jam, Professor Bernd Stahl of the University of Nottingham argued that professional recognition will happen “for the same reason it happens in medicine, law and accountancy – because people recognise that these professions need to be regulated.”
The Cloud Opportunity
Looking at how AI is impacting the prospects of businesses, it is clear that cloud computing is one area where there is a significant opportunity, providing the foundations for cloud-based AI. The Cloud Industry Forum’s annual survey of senior IT and business decision-makers recently found that 96 per cent of businesses believe that AI will be ‘at least somewhat important’ to their organisation in the next five years. At the launch of the report in May, the organisation’s CEO, David Terrar, explained that “AI’s rapid rise has continued over the last 12 months and shows little sign of slowing.” He added that: “Cloud naturally has a key role to play in the further adoption of AI, offering the agility to enable businesses to experiment with AI and reap its rewards.”
What Does AI Mean for Telecoms and Broadband?
The outlook for telecoms is more nuanced. In February last year, The UK Telecoms Innovation Network released a paper highlighting that AI is expected to catalyse a transformation in the telecoms industry by bringing new entrants to the market and causing strategic shifts among key stakeholders. However, it also highlighted specific challenges that the industry faces when implementing AI. For example, the sector faces an AI skills gap as it competes for talent with other industries, while the rapid development cycle of AI is at odds with the decades-long planning processes more typically associated with national infrastructure such as telecoms networks.
Meanwhile, the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development’s annual ‘State of Broadband’ report sees AI as “a potential accelerant towards sustainable development goals.” The report outlines how AI can contribute towards the Commission’s targets, such as by enhancing broadband operators’ operations through improved network efficiency and fraud detection and by streamlining processes in e-finance. At the same time, it also flags potential risks, such as information overload and the difficulty of discerning AI-generated content from true information.
Looking to the future, AI’s role in telecoms and cybersecurity is poised to grow exponentially, reshaping not just how we connect, but how we protect and interact with data too. The continued integration of AI into cloud computing, telecoms infrastructure and security frameworks will introduce new possibilities, from more efficient networks to smarter, more responsive security systems. However, the challenges ahead, from the AI skills gap to combatting increasingly sophisticated AI-empowered cyber threats, remain significant. To stay ahead of the curve, companies must not only invest in cutting-edge technologies but also prioritise the development of talent, contributing to informed regulatory frameworks and a culture of cybersecurity resilience. By doing so, they will be well-positioned to leverage AI in ways that drive both innovation and security in an increasingly connected world.
David Whitehead is Global Executive Communications Leader at Edelman.