AI and personal data

[btc_avocado]

I have seen various claims of people using AI as a sort of a therapeutic device. People reported comfort while using AI, thinking they can be a lot more honest with a robot than with any real person. It does make sense. You tell a friend your secret and they can tell someone else. Their perception of you might even change. But AI won’t judge you. In fact, it is even biased towards you. It tells you what you want to read.

What people don’t realize is that AI is run by private companies with very real people handling the data they feed on to the tool. Who knows what they do with those data? They can sell it to study behavior of consumers. They can use it to further understand human complex way of thinking and speaking making AI inevitably stronger. It can also sell your data to the governments.

If you use AI, maybe think twice before feeding it data about you.

[Daniel the Crypto Lord]

It’s smart to treat it like any online service: don’t share sensitive personal data, assume logs may exist, and understand that privacy depends on policies and regulation - no vibes.

Use it as a tool, not as a confessional.

[georgino22222]

AI is an extraordinary tool but it must be used wisely. For general purposes, online ones are fine, but if you want to insert sensitive data, it is better to use local ones.

[smouha]

You all hit the nail on the head, the real issue isn't the technology itself but rather the lack of awareness regarding how to use it safely, people treat AI like a secure black box for venting and forget about the servers and data policies behind the screen, the idea of using local models is excellent for professionals, while for the average user the solution is to dive into privacy settings and utilize features like temporary chats to protect their data from being used in training, ultimately caution is key and our privacy is our own responsibility first and foremost.

[BADecker]

Of course, then there are the AI programmers... programmers who do what their bosses tell them to program. So it's programmer bosses who are stealing your personal data through AI programming.

[RibbonRaptor]

My input for this is that AI can feel safer to talk to because it doesn't judge you, and it won't gossip like a person might. But it's still a tool run by a company, and what you type can be stored or used to improve the system. So I treat it like the internet, useful but not private.

If you want the benefits without the risk, just keep personal details out. Don't share your real name, exact location, passwords, seed phrases, private keys, or anything you'd regret if it ever leaked. You can still talk about the problem in a general way and get help without handing over your identity.

AI is great for organizing thoughts and learning, just don't use it like a personal diary.