We talk to AI chatbots in more and more places, but it is not always clear what happens to the information we share. That’s why it’s better never to tell an AI some things.
Sharing information with AI: be careful with these things
Crafty people run AI chatbots locally so they can say anything to them with no real consequences. Others take special care to only use AI services with a focus on privacy. Yet most people will not bother with that.
Chatbots are now appearing in so many places that it is not always clear what happens to the data you enter or upload during your conversations. It is therefore wise to be cautious with the information you share, because you never know whether it will be stored and where it might surface again.
1. Contact information
Never enter personal contact information. Think of your telephone number, address or email address. This information can be misused in many ways, such as phishing. Consider not only your own data, but also that of others. They have not given permission for their information to be stored anywhere.
2. Login information
AI chatbots are sometimes used to generate secure passwords, but that is not a good idea. The password is stored in your history and you can never be sure how unique the generated password really is. It is therefore better to generate passwords via a good password manager.
3. Sensitive documents
Don’t just upload sensitive documents to an AI chatbot, because you can easily get a summary, for example. Think of business documents that you do not want to end up on the street, but also personal documents that are full of private details such as letters from the tax authorities, bank statements, credit card information, and so on.
4. Medical information
It’s tempting to upload documents about your medical information to AI to have it explained in an understandable way, or use ChatGPT as a kind of search engine about medical complaints you have. That is not wise. This is information that you probably don’t want others to see or that it can be traced back to you.
5. Secrets
Because conversations with chatbots feel realistic, it can be tempting to talk about your deepest secrets. Like you can finally tell someone without consequences.
But not only can that information always turn up somewhere, it cannot be ruled out that the strange things you say will be noticed by the people behind the chatbot.
6. Your own creative work
If you make creative work, such as writing books or drawing unique illustrations, it is not wise to upload these productions to a chatbot to ask for feedback, for example.
There is a chance that what you upload becomes part of the training data and can resurface elsewhere in various ways. If you think it is important that your own creations remain with yourself, it is better to keep them with yourself.
Curious about what else you can expect from AI in 2025? We list our expectations.
Source: www.androidplanet.nl
