AI Safety vs. AI Security: Demystifying the Distinction and Boundaries

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lin, Zhiqiang, Sun, Huan, Shroff, Ness
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Lin, Zhiqiang
Sun, Huan
Shroff, Ness
author_facet Lin, Zhiqiang
Sun, Huan
Shroff, Ness
contents Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly being integrated into critical systems across various domains, from healthcare to autonomous vehicles. While its integration brings immense benefits, it also introduces significant risks, including those arising from AI misuse. Within the discourse on managing these risks, the terms "AI Safety" and "AI Security" are often used, sometimes interchangeably, resulting in conceptual confusion. This paper aims to demystify the distinction and delineate the precise research boundaries between AI Safety and AI Security. We provide rigorous definitions, outline their respective research focuses, and explore their interdependency, including how security breaches can precipitate safety failures and vice versa. Using clear analogies from message transmission and building construction, we illustrate these distinctions. Clarifying these boundaries is crucial for guiding precise research directions, fostering effective cross-disciplinary collaboration, enhancing policy effectiveness, and ultimately, promoting the deployment of trustworthy AI systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_18932
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle AI Safety vs. AI Security: Demystifying the Distinction and Boundaries
Lin, Zhiqiang
Sun, Huan
Shroff, Ness
Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
Cryptography and Security
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly being integrated into critical systems across various domains, from healthcare to autonomous vehicles. While its integration brings immense benefits, it also introduces significant risks, including those arising from AI misuse. Within the discourse on managing these risks, the terms "AI Safety" and "AI Security" are often used, sometimes interchangeably, resulting in conceptual confusion. This paper aims to demystify the distinction and delineate the precise research boundaries between AI Safety and AI Security. We provide rigorous definitions, outline their respective research focuses, and explore their interdependency, including how security breaches can precipitate safety failures and vice versa. Using clear analogies from message transmission and building construction, we illustrate these distinctions. Clarifying these boundaries is crucial for guiding precise research directions, fostering effective cross-disciplinary collaboration, enhancing policy effectiveness, and ultimately, promoting the deployment of trustworthy AI systems.
title AI Safety vs. AI Security: Demystifying the Distinction and Boundaries
topic Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
Cryptography and Security
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.18932