ALBAWABA – Despite concerns that have led United States (US) employers such as Microsoft and Google to curb its use, many US workers turn to ChatGPT to help with basic tasks, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, reported Sunday.
The chatbot program uses generative AI to converse with users and answer questions and prompts. It offers various advantages that companies worldwide are looking into how to make best use of it.
However, security companies have raised some concerns about it resulting in intellectual property and strategy leaks, according to Reuters.
Apparently, ChatGPT to help with their day-to-day work, including drafting emails, summarising documents and doing preliminary research.
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. Whereas 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 the use of such technology.
ChatGPT quickly became the fastest-growing app in history after its launch in November, until Meta’s Threads came along and knocked it out of the top place.
It has created both excitement and alarm, as its developers, OpenAI, ran into conflict with regulators, particularly in Europe, where the company's mass data-collecting process has drawn criticism from privacy watchdogs.
Human reviewers from other companies may read any of the generated chats. Additionally, researchers found that similar AI could reproduce data it absorbed during training, which creates a potential risk for proprietary information.
"People do not understand how the data is used when they use generative AI services," Ben King, VP of customer trust at corporate security firm Okta, told Reuters.
"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 ChatGP. But the developers 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.
Likewise, when people use Google's Bard it collects data such as text, location, and other usage information. But the company allows users to delete past activity from their accounts and request the removal of the content they fed into the AI.
When asked to comment further, however, Alphabet-owned Google declined, whereas Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuter’s request for comments.
US workers turn to ChatGPT to help with ‘harmless tasks’
A US-based Tinder employee said workers at the dating app used ChatGPT for "harmless tasks" like writing emails even though the company does not officially allow it.
"It's regular emails. Very non-consequential, like making funny calendar invites for team events, farewell emails 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 to independently confirm how employees at Tinder were using ChatGPT. But Tinder said it provided "regular guidance to employees on best security and data practices".
Meanwhile, 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 August 3.
"However, until these measures are ready, we are temporarily restricting the use of generative AI through company devices," the company said.
Also, back in June, Reuters reported that Alphabet had cautioned employees about how they use chatbots including Google's Bard, even as it markets the program globally.
Although Bard can create undesired code suggestions, it does help programmers, according to Google. The company also said it aimed to be transparent about the limitations of its technology.
Are blanket bans warranted as US workers turn to ChatGPT?
On the one hand, some companies told Reuters 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. The company reaffirmed that data stays within its firewall.
"Internally, we recently launched our enterprise version of Coca-Cola ChatGPT for productivity," the spokesperson said. Coca-Cola plans to use AI to improve the effectiveness and productivity of its teams, the company confirmed.
Also, Chief Financial Officer at Tate & Lyle Dawn Allen also told Reuters that the global ingredients maker was experimenting with 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?"
On the other hand, 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 and Reuters was unable independently to confirm whether employees were in fact unable to use ChatGPT.
However, 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.
Lewis confirmed there are "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.
