AI and data privacy are facing serious challenges in today’s digital world. Many systems create illusions of safety, control, and trust. Some companies have placed millions of users’ personal and genetic data at risk through careless data handling, ownership transfers, and hidden data-sharing practices. In some cases, sensitive images and private information have been accessed or shared without users’ clear awareness or consent.

AI appears powerful, but it can also weaken personal privacy and human independence. Is AI truly empowering people, or is it creating an illusion of power while quietly exposing personal data and reducing individual control?

This e-magazine features artworks and interviews that critically examine public trust in AI, encourage informed and reflective engagement with emerging technologies, and investigate accountability in systems that process sensitive personal data.

-Danting Li
8/17/2026