Risk to Reward: How ChatGPT Security Fuels AI Transformation

Have a question? Ask ChatGPT. 

Need quick research on a specific topic? ChatGPT probably has a laundry list of smart citations ready for you to absorb.

It’s a no-brainer that GenAI tools are continuing to transform how we work, positively impacting nearly every industry and generally making our jobs a little bit easier. But in the process, GenAI tools like ChatGPT also inadvertently get trusted with a lot of sensitive data. 

As the benefits become more difficult to ignore, the need for ChatGPT security will also become just as pervasive – and fuel broader access to AI and faster innovation for those of us navigating the AI transformation. 
 

The Greater the Reward, the Greater the Risk?

Employees are regularly turning to ChatGPT when stumped on a question – saving valued time and supercharging productivity. It has become a game-changer in relieving employees of time-consuming tasks like summarizing meetings or documents, drafting reports, writing emails, and more.  

The AI transformation has kicked into second gear and companies are left with two choices: Get on board or risk getting left behind.

However, the less-spoken about reality is that GenAI tools can collect, store and process large amounts of data from various sources – including user prompts. 

ChatGPT for example can use data and other inputs to train their models and improve future responses. This means that if employees enter sensitive data into a ChatGPT prompt (like unreleased financial information or personal data), they may inadvertently open the company to third-party risk. 

If there are no guardrails in place, there may be nothing stopping the chat bot from using that data to answer prompts from other users. It’s not malicious; it’s an unintended consequence of how the technology works.