In a world where things are changing quickly and we’re pretty much forced to trust tech companies when it comes to advancements like AI, stories like this really make you stop and think.
Because why would a company so gung-ho about AI becoming mainstream not want their own employees to use it?
That’s exactly what Google’s parent company Alphabet reported did, warning against even using their own chatbot Bard, according to Reuters.
Alphabet is said to be concerned about employees giving the chatbots confidential data, but you know, they’re fine giving the tech to whatever consumer wants to use it.
They’re not alone, either.
Earlier this year Amazon warned their employees to be careful when feeding sensitive information into OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Samsung employees were reprimanded for leaking sensitive company information into the chatbot.
Apple, too, has restricted the use of ChatGPT and other AI tools for similar reasons.
A survey found that, in the real world, around half of professionals are already using AI tools at work. Google itself is offering pricey tools they claim will avoid data leaks from public-facing AI models.
They’re going to have an uphill battle when it comes to convincing the skeptics among us after this, though, as privacy concerns abound.
This could be a very important case of ‘do as I do and not what I say.’
So, you might want to be careful out there.