Many workers across the US are turning to ChatGPT to help with basic tasks, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found, despite fears that have led employers such as Microsoft and Google to curb its use.
Companies worldwide are considering how to best make use of ChatGPT, a chatbot program that uses generative AI to hold conversations with users and answer myriad prompts. Security firms and companies have raised concerns, however, that it could result in intellectual property and strategy leaks.
Anecdotal examples of people using ChatGPT to help with their day-to-day work include drafting e-mails, summarizing documents and doing preliminary research.
Photo: Reuters
Some 28 percent of respondents to the online poll on artificial intelligence (AI) between July 11 and 17 said they regularly use ChatGPT at work, while only 22 percent said their employers explicitly allowed such external tools.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll of 2,625 adults across the US had a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about 2 percentage points.
Some 10 percent of those polled said their bosses explicitly banned external AI tools, while about 25 percent did not know if their company permitted use of the technology.
Photo: Reuters
ChatGPT became the fastest-growing app in history after its launch in November. It has created both excitement and alarm, bringing its developer OpenAI into conflict with regulators, particularly in Europe, where the company’s mass data-collecting has drawn criticism from privacy watchdogs.
Human reviewers from other companies may read any of the generated chats, and researchers found that similar artificial intelligence AI could reproduce data it absorbed during training, creating a potential risk for proprietary information.
“People do not understand how the data is used when they use generative AI services,” said Ben King, VP of customer trust at corporate security firm Okta.
“For businesses this is critical, because users don’t have a contract with many AIs — because they are a free service — so corporates won’t have run the risk through their usual assessment process,” King said.
OpenAI declined to comment when asked about the implications of individual employees using ChatGPT, but highlighted a recent company blog post assuring corporate partners that their data would not be used to train the chatbot further, unless they gave explicit permission.
When people use Google’s Bard it collects data such as text, location and other usage information. The company allows users to delete past activity from their accounts and request that content fed into the AI be removed. Alphabet-owned Google declined to comment when asked for further detail.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
‘HARMLESS TASKS’
A US-based employee of Tinder said workers at the dating app used ChatGPT for “harmless tasks” like writing e-mails even though the company does not officially allow it.
“It’s regular e-mails. Very non-consequential, like making funny calendar invites for team events, farewell e-mails when someone is leaving ... We also use it for general research,” said the employee, who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak with reporters.
The employee said Tinder has a “no ChatGPT rule” but that employees still use it in a “generic way that doesn’t reveal anything about us being at Tinder.”
Reuters was not able independently confirm how employees at Tinder were using ChatGPT. Tinder said it provided “regular guidance to employees on best security and data practices.”
In May, Samsung Electronics banned staff globally from using ChatGPT and similar AI tools after discovering an employee had uploaded sensitive code to the platform.
“We are reviewing measures to create a secure environment for generative AI usage that enhances employees’ productivity and efficiency,” Samsung said in a statement on Aug. 3.
“However, until these measures are ready, we are temporarily restricting the use of generative AI through company devices.”
Reuters reported in June that Alphabet had cautioned employees about how they use chatbots including Google’s Bard, at the same time as it markets the program globally.
Google said although Bard can make undesired code suggestions, it helps programmers. It also said it aimed to be transparent about the limitations of its technology.
BLANKET BANS
Some companies said they are embracing ChatGPT and similar platforms, while keeping security in mind.
“We’ve started testing and learning about how AI can enhance operational effectiveness,” said a Coca-Cola spokesperson in Atlanta, Georgia, adding that data stays within its firewall.
“Internally, we recently launched our enterprise version of Coca-Cola ChatGPT for productivity,” the spokesperson said, adding that Coca-Cola plans to use AI to improve the effectiveness and productivity of its teams.
Tate & Lyle Chief Financial Officer Dawn Allen, meanwhile, said that the global ingredients maker was trialing ChatGPT, having “found a way to use it in a safe way.”
“We’ve got different teams deciding how they want to use it through a series of experiments. Should we use it in investor relations? Should we use it in knowledge management? How can we use it to carry out tasks more efficiently?”
Some employees say they cannot access the platform on their company computers at all.
“It’s completely banned on the office network, like it doesn’t work,” said a Procter & Gamble employee, who wished to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
P&G declined to comment. Reuters was not able independently to confirm whether employees at P&G were unable to use ChatGPT.
Paul Lewis, chief information security officer at cyber security firm Nominet, said firms were right to be wary.
“Everybody gets the benefit of that increased capability, but the information isn’t completely secure and it can be engineered out,” he said, citing “malicious prompts” that can be used to get AI chatbots to disclose information.
“A blanket ban isn’t warranted yet, but we need to tread carefully,” Lewis said.
May 18 to May 24 Pastor Yang Hsu’s (楊煦) congregation was shocked upon seeing the land he chose to build his orphanage. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the only way to access it was to cross a river by foot. The soil was poor due to runoff, and large rocks strewn across the plot prevented much from growing. In addition, there was no running water or electricity. But it was all Yang could afford. He and his Indigenous Atayal wife Lin Feng-ying (林鳳英) had already been caring for 24 orphans in their home, and they were in
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday delivered an address marking the first anniversary of his presidency. In the speech, Lai affirmed Taiwan’s global role in technology, trade and security. He announced economic and national security initiatives, and emphasized democratic values and cross-party cooperation. The following is the full text of his speech: Yesterday, outside of Beida Elementary School in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District (三峽), there was a major traffic accident that, sadly, claimed several lives and resulted in multiple injuries. The Executive Yuan immediately formed a task force, and last night I personally visited the victims in hospital. Central government agencies and the
Australia’s ABC last week published a piece on the recall campaign. The article emphasized the divisions in Taiwanese society and blamed the recall for worsening them. It quotes a supporter of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) as saying “I’m 43 years old, born and raised here, and I’ve never seen the country this divided in my entire life.” Apparently, as an adult, she slept through the post-election violence in 2000 and 2004 by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the veiled coup threats by the military when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) became president, the 2006 Red Shirt protests against him ginned up by
As with most of northern Thailand’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) settlements, the village of Arunothai was only given a Thai name once the Thai government began in the 1970s to assert control over the border region and initiate a decades-long process of political integration. The village’s original name, bestowed by its Yunnanese founders when they first settled the valley in the late 1960s, was a Chinese name, Dagudi (大谷地), which literally translates as “a place for threshing rice.” At that time, these village founders did not know how permanent their settlement would be. Most of Arunothai’s first generation were soldiers
RSS