Zain Kahn’s “Superhuman” email says workers want to use ChatGPT, but bosses aren’t so keen.
Why? Don’t they want people to be more productive?
Of course they do, but there are some legit dangers in using ChatGPT. Which sent me on a bit of a search.
What can go wrong?
- Let’s say you’re a programmer and you can’t get a certain routine to work right, so you upload it to ChatGPT and say “fix this for me.” Yes, ChatGPT can do that sort of thing.
But now you’ve uploaded your company’s intellectual property, and possibly some trade secrets, to ChatGPT. The boss won’t like that.
- In a similar way, most companies have strict rules about how they manage their data, and they have to report on who has access and under what circumstances. ChatGPT is an invitation for some of that data to escape proper channels.
- Sometimes ChatGPT makes stuff up. You don’t want your employees relying on its answers.
- ChatGPT doesn’t have the most current information. Version 3.5 is only updated through September 2021.
- ChatGPT has a point of view that might differ from your company’s point of view. Its answer might violate company policies or guidelines, or maybe even the law, like EEOC issues. Some state laws have placed limits on employee use of ChatGPT.
- Employees might get lazy and become too reliant on easy answers from AI.
These are all legit concerns, but some of them aren’t all that different from employees relying on other things they learn from the web – from a search, or from Reddit.
I think the better approach is training and clear guidelines. Tell employees what they can and can’t post to AI chatbots, and why. Tell them what issues can and can’t be referred to ChatGPT. For example, you can’t have ChatGPT review a bunch of resumes because there are concerns about discrimination.
Remind employees that the Chatbot is not the Enterprise computer and might be full of baloney. Remind them to check what they hear from the AI bots, just as they would any other source.
It’s an interesting conundrum because ChatGPT is definitely a productivity enhancer, but it comes with some risks as well.
Links
Employers Should Consider These Risks When Employees Use ChatGPT
