You probably have heard about ChatGPT in the last few weeks. ChatGPT is a new chatbot with a remarkable ability to mimic human dialogue and decision making. Although the core function of a chatbot is to mimic a human conversationalist, ChatGPT is versatile. For example, you can ask it to a write an essay, explain a subject, run a calculation, help code in Python, or simply follow a conversation. The technology then pulls knowledge from its dataset and produces a response that looks surprisingly accurate — at least sometimes.
The release of ChatGPT has led many people to become excited about the ways they can use this service to streamline their everyday lives, at home and even maybe at work, but it is important to keep in mind the potential risks of using ChatGPT and other similar services online.
Consider Privacy Issues
When logging into ChatGPT, the tool expressly warns users that: “Conversations may be reviewed by our AI trainers to improve our systems,” and cautions, “Please don’t share any sensitive information in your conversations.”
Don’t ignore this warning, everything that you type into ChatGPT, or other “free” online tools or websites is being collected, analyzed and in many cases, monetized. That means that asking ChatGPT to write a report that includes our latest sales numbers, to modify a script that utilizes information such as our server naming scheme or any other unauthorized sharing of NLG non-public information is prohibited.
NLG is not alone in its concern for the privacy risks these tools pose, with reports showing companies such as Amazon and even Microsoft (a financial backer of ChatGPT) warning employees about sharing sensitive data with the tool.
New tools and technological advancements are exciting and offer new opportunities to improve our lives, but like all other tools, they must be used responsibly.