Google Warns Own Staff About Chatbots

Techspace - Alphabet Inc. reported to employees how it was using chatbots, including its own Bard while marketing the program around the world, said four people familiar with the matter.

Google holding company has instructed its employees not to include any confidential material in AI chatbots, a policy the company and its sources have confirmed.

This policy is in place to protect sensitive information, in line with the company's long-term commitment to safeguarding data.

These chatbots, like Bard and ChatGPT, are designed to engage in human-like conversations with users, leveraging generative artificial intelligence to direct cues. However, as part of the training process, AI systems can ingest and potentially reproduce data that has been exposed, creating a potential data leak risk.

Alphabet also advises its engineers against using live computer code that chatbots can generate, as some individuals familiar with the matter have done.

The company acknowledges that Bard occasionally makes unsolicited code suggestions. Even so, the company was pressured that Bard would continue to help programmers while maintaining transparency about the limitations of his technology.

This concern demonstrates Google's efforts to mitigate the potential negative impact on its business from competing with ChatGPT. Billions of dollars of investment and unexplored advertising and cloud revenue from new AI programs at stake in Google games with support for ChatGPT, OpenAI, and Microsoft.

Google's caution also reflects what is standard security for the company, including modifying employees to avoid using publicly available program dialogs.

Many businesses around the world, including Samsung, Amazon, and Deutsche Bank, have implemented safeguards for AI chatbots.

More and more businesses around the world have put guardrails on AI chatbots, such as Samsung, Amazon, and Deutsche Bank.

According to a survey conducted by networking site Fishbowl, about 43% of professionals used ChatGPT or other AI tools in January, often without telling their bosses, according to a survey of nearly 12,000 respondents, including from top US-based companies.

In a month, Google informed staff who tested Bard before its February launch not to provide internal information to the chatbot. Today, Google is expanding Bard's availability to more than 180 countries and 40 languages, positioning it as a tool for fostering creativity. The company warning also includes code suggestions provided by Bard.

Google confirmed that they have engaged in extensive discussions with the Irish Data Protection Commission and are addressing regulatory inquiries. This comes after a Politico report indicated that Google was delaying the launch of Bard in the European Union this week, pending further information on the impact of chatbots on privacy.

Concerns around sensitive information

Such technology can structure emails, documents, and even the software itself, promising to speed up tasks significantly. However, this content may include misinformation, sensitive data, or even copyrighted passages from the "Harry Potter" novels.

On June 1, Google updated its privacy notice, which now includes a statement, "Do not include confidential or sensitive information in your Bard conversations."

Several companies have developed software to solve the problem. For example, Cloudflare (NET.N), which protects websites from cyber attacks and offers other cloud services, markets the ability for businesses to flag and restrict some data from flowing externally.

Several companies have developed software solutions to address this problem. For example, Cloudflare, a provider of website security from cyber-attacks and other cloud services, offers businesses the ability to flag and release certain data from being sent externally.

Google and Microsoft are also offering conversational tools to up-and-coming business customers at a higher price tag but are refraining from ingesting data into public AI models. The default setting in Bard and ChatGPT is to save the user's conversation history, which the user can choose to delete.

Yusuf Mehdi, who is a director of consumer marketing for Microsoft, stated that it makes sense for companies to prevent their staff from using public chatbots for work purposes. He said "The company is taking a suitably conservative viewpoint," highlighting that Microsoft's free Bing chatbot operates under much stricter policies compared to its enterprise software.

Microsoft declined to comment on whether there was an overall ban on staff entering confidential information into public AI programs, including its own, though a different executive there told Reuters he privately restricted its use.

Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, said that typing confidential matters into chatbots was like "turning a bunch of PhD students loose in all of your private records."