Google warns its staff how they use chatbots including Bard, advises not to enter confidential info: Report

Google has asked its employees not to use AI chatbots to input confidential information. This is in line with the company's policy of safeguarding sensitive information. Google has also alerted its engineers to avoid direct use of computer code that chatbots can generate

Team Newsable

First Published Jun 16, 2023, 11:36 AM IST | Last Updated Jun 16, 2023, 11:35 AM IST

Alphabet Inc. is advising its employees about how they utilise chatbots, including its own Bard. This also happens at the same time that the business is promoting its programme all over the world. As per the report, the company has advised employees not to enter its confidential materials into AI chatbots, the people said and the company confirmed, citing long-standing policy on safeguarding information.

The so-called chatbots, like Bard and ChatGPT, are human-sounding software applications that engage in discussions with users and respond to a wide range of questions. Researchers discovered that comparable AI may recreate the material it ingested during training, presenting a leak risk, the paper claimed. It also added that human reviewers might read the discussions.

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Alphabet also alerted its engineers to avoid direct use of computer code that chatbots can generate, some of the people said.

The worrying aspect is Google's desire to prevent commercial damage from software it released in opposition to ChatGPT. Google's warning also reflects what is becoming as a security norm for businesses: cautioning staff against using chat programmes that are accessible to the general public.

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The conversational tools that Google and Microsoft are providing to corporate clients will cost more money but won't feed data into open-source AI models. Users can choose to remove their discussion history, which is saved by default in Bard and ChatGPT.

The use of AI chatbots is being restricted by an increasing number of organisations globally, including Samsung, Amazon.com, and Deutsche Bank. Microsoft declined to comment on whether there is a general prohibition on employees submitting sensitive data into publicly accessible AI programmes, including its own. According to a poll conducted by the networking site Fishbowl of roughly 12,000 respondents, including those from leading U.S.-based organisations, 43% of professionals were utilising ChatGPT or other AI applications as of January, frequently without informing their managers.

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