You've employed ChatGPT to make your life easier when drafting an essay or doing research. Indeed, the chatbot's ability to accept massive volumes of data, break down it in seconds, and answer in natural language is incredibly valuable. But does convenience come at a cost, and can you rely on ChatGPT to safeguard your secrets? It's a significant topic to ask because many of us lose our guard around chatbots and computers in general. So, in this article, we will ask and answer a simple question: Is ChatGPT safe?
Is ChatGPT safe to use?
Yes, ChatGPT is safe because it will not bring any direct harm to you or your laptop. Sandboxing is a safety system used by both online browsers and smartphone operating systems, such as iOS. This means ChatGPT can't access the rest of your device. You don't have to worry about your system being hacked or infected with malware when you use the official ChatGPT app or website.
Having said that, ChatGPT has the potential to be harmful in other ways, such as privacy and secrecy. We'll go into more detail about this in the next section, but for now, remember that your conversations with the chatbot aren't private, even if they only surface when you log into your account.
The final aspect of safety worth analysing is the overall existence of ChatGPT. Several IT giants have criticised modern chatbots and their developers for aggressively advancing without contemplating the potential risks of AI. Computers can now replicate human speech and creativity so perfectly that it's nearly impossible to tell the difference. For example, AI image generators may already generate deceptive visuals that have the potential to instigate violence and political unrest. Does this imply that you shouldn't use ChatGPT? Not necessarily, but it's an unsettling insight into what the future may hold.
How to safely use ChatGPT
Even though OpenAI claims to store user data on American soil, we can't presume their systems are secure. We've seen higher-profile organisations suffer security breaches, regardless of their location or affiliations. So, how can you use ChatGPT safely? We've compiled a short list of tips:
Don't share any private information that you don't want the world to know about. This includes trade secrets, proprietary code from the company for which you work, credit card data, and addresses. Some organisations, like Samsung, have prohibited their staff from using the chatbot for this reason.
Avoid using third-party apps and instead download the official ChatGPT app from the App Store or Play Store. Alternatively, you can access the chatbot through a web browser.
If you do not want OpenAI to utilise your talks for training, you may turn off data collection by toggling a toggle in Settings > Data controls > Improve the model for everyone.
Set a strong password for your OpenAI account so that others cannot see your ChatGPT chat history.
Periodically delete your conversation history. In this manner, even if someone tries to break into your account, they will be unable to view any of your previous chats.
Assuming you follow these guidelines, you should not be concerned about utilising ChatGPT to assist with everyday, tedious tasks. After all, the chatbot enjoys the backing of major industry companies such as Microsoft, and its core language model supports competing chatbots such as Microsoft Copilot.
