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Chat GPT has become wildly popular over its first few months on the internet. It already surpassed one million users in its first week! As more people sign up for OpenAI’s service, there are growing concerns over whether or not Chat GPT is safe.
Using Chat GPT in a casual sense seems to be safe. For example, if you are just looking to generate creative content, ask the bot to translate text, or simply just want to play around with it, this seems pretty ok to do.
There are a few things you should be wary of when using the AI chatbot, however. According to the developers, Chat GPT does have the potential to produce biased and harmful content.
What’s particularly concerning about this model is that it can deliver this content in a very convincing, plausible way. OpenAI does warn users about this before using the AI tool, however.
Another major concern about the AI bot is its potential to give inaccurate information. In a world where misinformation can spread quickly online, this could potentially be extremely harmful.
Chat GPT constructs its response using the information it was trained on, where some of it is sourced from the internet. The bot then creates a string of words that are likely to follow each other and then outputs its response. As a result, releasing incorrect information is pretty inevitable.
Similar concerns have led other tech giants, Metaverse and Google, to keep their AI bots out of public use. Interestingly, many opinions are flying around suggesting that OpenAI is irresponsible for releasing the model to the public considering these major limitations.
ChatGPT risks
Besides the risks that Chat GPT directly poses to you as a user, there are other major risks you should consider. Chat GPT has the potential to be used by attackers to trick and target you and your computer.
For example, fraudsters could use Chat GPT to quickly create spam and phishing emails. Due to the vast amount of data, the model is trained on, it has now become easier than ever to create scarily convincing emails even in the style of the company they’re trying to pose as.
OpenAI has also made a variation of their model, free to modify from their GitHub account. Despite this being a great idea for those looking to learn more about NLP models and AI, it also means that people with malicious intent can use the model for their own gains.
We cannot ignore the possibility that someone could use OpenAI’s technology to create a fake customer service chatbot. This could have the potential to trick people out of their money – not great news.
Is ChatGPT safe to give your phone number?
It’s important to note, using your phone number to register on Chat GPT isn’t giving your phone number to Chat GPT – the service isn’t the same as the company (OpenAI). If you are concerned about data or information OpenAI collects be sure to read the company’s privacy policy.
Of course, giving any company your number can have a small element of risk associated with it. If there is a data or security breach, any data a company has access to may be a target. But, as we discuss elsewhere you do need a phone number to use Chat GPT.
Is ChatGPT safe to download?
Right now we’d say that if you’re seeing options to download Chat GPT outside of OpenAI’s website or official channels, that may not be safe. That’s because OpenAI doesn’t have an option for you to download Chat GPT.
The service doesn’t exist on a downloadable Android or iPhone app and is easy to access with a desktop or mobile device on OpenAI’s site. Popular services do attract the attention of those looking to scam or trick users, though – as mentioned above.
Final Thoughts
There’s no doubt about it – Chat GPT is a pretty phenomenal tool. However, the AI bot could cause real-world harm. The fact that the model has the potential to spread misinformation and produce biased content is something that should not be ignored.
As we continue to build a digital world around us, the threat from this rises. So what can you do to protect yourself? Well, firstly you should fact-check any information Chat GPT outputs by also doing your own research. Also, regardless of what Chat GPT’s response is, always have in the back of your mind that it is not necessarily true or correct.
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