ChatGPT in the Workplace

Why to limit employee use, and what it means to your business

ChatGPT, as a large language model, has shown to be an impressive tool for various tasks such as natural language processing, text generation, and language translation. However, its increasing use in various domains has raised concerns about the potential risks and challenges it may pose in terms of privacy, security, ethical, and legal considerations. This article aims to discuss these risks and concerns by providing real-world examples of such risks. 

One of the primary concerns regarding ChatGPT is the potential privacy risks it poses. With the vast amount of data it processes and stores, there is a high likelihood that personal information could be exposed or misused. In addition, the model’s capability to generate text based on the given input raises concerns about the protection of sensitive data such as health records, financial information, and other confidential data. OpenAI released a new version of ChatGPT which had access to a massive dataset of internet text, including social media posts, news articles, and personal blogs. The model’s ability to generate coherent responses led to concerns about its potential misuse for fake news and propaganda campaigns.

Another significant risk associated with ChatGPT is the potential security risks. The model’s capability to generate text based on the given input can be misused to create convincing phishing emails or social engineering attacks. By utilizing ChatGPT, threat actors are able to enhance the communication skills, which they typically lack in their phishing emails. ChatGPT creates phishing emails that possess coherence, conversational flow, and a striking similarity to genuine messages at no cost, thereby granting even the most basic cybercriminals the ability to heighten the effectiveness of their social engineering attacks. If these generated messages are sent to unsuspecting users, they could be used to steal sensitive information, compromise systems, or infect devices with malware.

Phishing emails or social engineering attacks are examples of how ChatGPT poses an external threat. However, ChatGPT can also poses an internal threat. Samsung’s semiconductor division allowed its engineers to use ChatGPT to check source code. However, the events that followed were appalling. According to Economist Korea, three Samsung employees accidentally revealed Samsung’s sensitive corporate data, potentially giving OpenAI and its competitors insights about its technology. Firstly, an employee discovered a bug in the source code of the download program for the semiconductor plant measurement database and requested ChatGPT’s help to resolve the issue. Secondly, another employee used ChatGPT to enhance the test sequence for a program that identifies yield and faulty chips. Lastly, an employee recorded an internal company meeting on their smartphone, transcribed it with a speech recognition application, and utilized ChatGPT to generate meeting minutes. All three of these individuals are currently under investigation for disciplinary action. This example highlights the security concerns in utilizing ChatGPT and importance of implementing robust security protocols to protect the sensitive data used by ChatGPT.

Another significant concern associated with ChatGPT is the ethical and legal considerations regarding the potential misuse of the model. The model’s capability to generate realistic human-like responses raises ethical concerns about its potential use in deepfake technology, disinformation campaigns, and other malicious activities. The model’s training data could potentially contain biases that could be reflected in the generated output. This could lead to unfair and discriminatory outcomes, particularly in sensitive domains such as hiring or legal proceedings. Additionally, there are also legal liability risks associated to by utilizing ChatGPT. The model is capable of generating content, including text, images, and videos, which can be used for a variety of purposes. However, if the generated content violates copyright laws or infringes on someone’s intellectual property rights, the user of ChatGPT could be held legally liable. 

Although ChatGPT has shown significant potential in various domains, its increasing use raises concerns about the potential risks and challenges it may pose. Here are five best practices for organizations to consider while allowing its employees to use ChatGPT: 

• Establish clear guidelines by defining Acceptable Use: Organizations should establish clear guidelines for the use of ChatGPT to ensure that employees understand what is and is not appropriate use. This can include guidelines around language, confidentiality, and data security.
• Provide training and support: Employees should be trained on how to effectively use ChatGPT and given ongoing support to ensure they are using the tool in the most productive and efficient way. This can include training on how to ask effective questions, how to interpret responses, and how to verify information.
• Monitor usage: Organizations should monitor usage of ChatGPT to ensure that it is being used appropriately and that employees are not engaging in inappropriate behavior. This can include monitoring for offensive language, inappropriate content, and misuse of data.
• Protect data privacy: Organizations should take steps to protect the privacy and security of data being used in ChatGPT. This can include using secure communication channels, limiting access to sensitive data, and ensuring that data is only used for authorized purposes. Additionally, identify which data tiers can be authorized to insert into ChatGPT.
• Continuously evaluate and update policies: Organizations should continuously evaluate and update the guidelines for ChatGPT usage. This can help ensure that the policies remain relevant and effective in meeting the organization’s security standards and addressing any emerging issues or concerns.

In conclusion, ChatGPT can be a powerful tool for organizations to enhance communication, productivity, and innovation. However, organizations must also consider the potential risks and challenges that come with using such a tool. Data privacy, security, legal liability, and bias are some of the key areas of concern that organizations need to be considered when allowing its employees to use ChatGPT. Additionally, organizations must implement the best practices outlined above to ensure ChatGPT is being utilized safely by its employees.