Why passwords still matter in the age of AI
As Apple's new Passwords app tries to solve our identity crisis, why are we still proving who we are via strings of random characters?
Whether it stands for artificial intelligence or, er, Apple intelligence, AI is the hot news of the day. Which is why I think it's time to talk about [sits backwards on chair] passwords.
It may have been buried in the reporting of last night's Apple event - which the inestimable Kari Paul and Nick Robins-Early covered for us from Cupertino and New York - but one of the more consequential changes coming to the company's platforms in the next year is the creation of a new Passwords app.
The average user probably has never heard of 1Password or LastPass, and they may or may not be aware that the iPhone can automatically create and store passwords for them. For users like that, a new Passwords app showing up on their iPhone's Home screen this fall is going to hopefully lead them to a more secure computing future.
A mild improvement in your daily life. That's what Apple, Google and Microsoft are offering, with a fairly rare triple announcement that the three tech giants are all adopting the Fido standard and ushering in a passwordless future. The standard replaces usernames and passwords with passkeys', log-in information stored directly on your device and only uploaded to the website when matched with biometric authentication like a selfie or fingerprint.
At around 11pm last night my partner went to change our lounge room lights with our home light control system. When she tried to login, her account couldn't be accessed. Her Apple Keychain had deleted the Passkey she was using on that site ... Just like adblockers, I predict that Passkeys will only be used by a small subset of the technical population, and consumers will generally reject them.
Zoom users in the not-too-distant future could send AI avatars to attend meetings in their absence, the company's chief executive has suggested, delegating the drudge-work of corporate life to a system trained on their own content.
Phasing out voice based authentication as a security measure for accessing bank accounts and other sensitive information
Exploring policies to protect the use of individuals' voices in AI
Educating the public in understanding the capabilities and limitations of AI technologies, including the possibility of deceptive AI content