Regardless of what you think about ChatGPT, there is no denying that the chatbot will stay. This incredibly powerful tool has been forced upon us and the question we have to ask ourselves has gone from “what”. Power what are you doing with ChatGPT? for what should are you doing with it?
Most people are vaguely aware of the possible dangers of using chatbots like ChatGPT and the potential data or privacy breaches that users are exposed to. To be honest, ChatGPT can become a security nightmareand we’ve already seen a few small-scale examples of this in the short time the product has been released to the public.
ChatGPT crashed earlier this year, which left paid subscribers and free users feeling lost in conversations and unable to log in or use the bot. Shortly after this, there was a post from OpenAI where we learned that a bug allowed users to see chat titles from other users’ stories.
What are the risks and are they worth it?
While it was a bit annoying – and quickly fixed when ChatGPT came back – OpenAI also admitted the same mistake “may have resulted in unintended visibility of payment-related information for the 1.2% of ChatGPT Plus subscribers who were active during the specified nine-hour window.”
This is just a small example of the types of data security threats we may face, but the fact still remains that ChatGPT’s amazing capabilities now pose an integral question: at what point do you go overboard with AI?
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged the risks of relying on ChatGPT and warns that “relying on it right now for important issues is a mistake.”
ChatGPT is incredibly limited, but good enough at some things to create a misleading impression of grandeur. It is a mistake to rely on him for important matters at the moment. it is an announcement of progress; we have a long way to go in terms of reliability and truthfulness.December 11, 2022
You should approach ChatGPT the same way you would approach other platforms like Facebook or Twitter. If you don’t want the public to read what you have to say or what you submit to ChatGPT, don’t share that information with the bot – or any chatbot for that matter.
The friendly and innocent behavior of chatbots like Google Bard and Bing AI can be appealing, but don’t be fooled! Unless you explicitly opt out, all of your information is used to train the chatbot or be viewed by other people working at OpenAI, so keep that in mind the next time you start chatting.
Should you use ChatGPT for work? Probably not.
You’ve probably seen a lot of praise for the AI-powered chatbot revolving around how it’s a potential source of productivity, a tool that can restore time you might otherwise have wasted composing emails, coming up with social media captions, and more. Many people are already using ChatGPT and similar AI bots to enhance their professional work.
But I warn you that Samsung employees used ChatGPT very briefly and inadvertently leaked trade secrets, leading to the banning of the company’s chatbot. Employees will now face disciplinary action if they fail to comply with the new restrictions, and Samsung isn’t the only big company tightening AI reins. Apple also banned employees from using ChatGPTand big banks like Citigroup and JPMorgan have recently done the same.
I know there’s a temptation to just do a quick check of something, check the code, and have someone else write that long email while you balance out all the other stuff you need to do in your work day. But it’s important to remember that you’re not just throwing this information into the ether. You don’t want to be the person in the office who “pushes out your Samsung” and exposes company information – or worse, your own personal information.
Can I use ChatGPT at work at all?
So when is it safe to use ChatGPT? If there are no rules against using ChatGPT in your workspace (yet), there’s nothing wrong with asking the bot to break down concepts you don’t understand, condense long documents so you can read them more easily, or analyze public data – but be sure to stick with more general information, without giving the AI any sensitive information.
You don’t want to write a summary of an important meeting and leak it online. It doesn’t matter if you are in the browser or using ChatGPT on your iPhone; there are still security concerns however you are approaching a bot so be careful what you choose to share with it. Until we have the truth artificial intelligence tools on the device that do not require an internet connection, any information you provide to your chosen chatbot will never be truly secure.
If you want to narrow down what you Really shouldn’t share with ChatGPT, the simple answer is everything personal. Avoid revealing information that could set you apart from the crowd, anything you would say to friends but not co-workers, and remember that this is still very new and very turbulent technology.
We are not sure what will happen next, exactly how the information that ChatGPT already has is used, or if that information may be made public. Treat ChatGPT like a knowledgeable workmate who seems a bit odd, and keep your distance where you can. Being friends with a chatbot is not mandatory – not yet, anyway.