This is a heartbreaking story Florida. Megan Garcia thought her 14-year-old son spent all his time playing video games. She had no idea he was having abusive, in-depth and sexual conversations with the chatbot powered by Character AI.
Sewell Setzer III stopped sleeping and his grades dropped. He eventually committed suicide. Megan says in her lawsuit that just seconds before he died, the robot told him: “Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love.” The boy asked, “What if I told you I could go home now?” His character AI robot responded, “Please do so, beautiful king.”
Don't fool yourself with tricks that hackers don't want me to share
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You have to be smart
AI robots are owned by a company Technology companies Known for exploiting our trusting human nature, they are designed with algorithms that maximize their profits. There are no barriers or laws governing what they can and cannot do with the information they collect.
When you use a chatbot, it will know a lot about you when you fire The application arrives Or the site. From your IP address, it collects information about where you live, plus it keeps track of things you've searched for online and accesses any other permissions you granted when you signed the chatbot's terms and conditions.
The best way to protect yourself is to be careful about the information you provide.
Be careful: ChatGPT loves it when you get personal
This crime rate has increased by 400% — how to protect yourself
10 things you should never say to artificial intelligence
- Passwords or login credentials: Big privacy mistake. If someone gains access, they can take over your accounts in seconds.
- Your name, address or phone number: Chatbots are not designed to handle personally identifiable information. Once you share it, you can't control where it ends up or who can see it. Connect a fake name if you want!
- Sensitive financial information: Never include bank account numbers, credit card details, or other financial matters in documents or text messages you upload. AI tools are not safes, so treat them like a cluttered room.
- Medical or health data: AI is not HIPAA compliant, so redact your name and other identifying information if you ask AI for health advice. Your privacy deserves more than quick answers.
- Seeking non-legal advice: This is against each bot's terms of service. You will likely be flagged. Additionally, you may end up having more problems than you bargained for.
- Hate speech or harmful content: This may also get you banned. A chatbot is not a free pass to spread negativity or hurt others.
- Confidential business or business information: Proprietary data, customer details and trade secrets are all prohibited.
- Security question answers: Sharing them is like opening the front door to all your accounts at once.
- Explicit content: Keep it PG. Most chatbots filter these things out, so anything inappropriate could get you banned as well.
- Personal information of other people: Uploading this is not only a breach of trust; It's a violation of data protection laws too. Sharing private information without permission could land you in legal trouble.
Do you still rely on Google? Never search for these terms
Regaining a (little) little bit of privacy
Most chatbots require you to create an account. If you create an account, do not use sign-in options such as “Sign In.” With Google” or “Connect with Facebook.” Use your email address instead to create a truly unique login information.
Tech Tip: Save your memories before it's too late
For your information, with A Free GPT chat Or Perplexity account, you can turn off memory features in the app settings that remembers everything you type. For Google Gemini, you need a paid account to do this.
The best AI tools for research, productivity, fun and work
No matter what, follow this rule
Don't tell the chatbot anything you don't want made public. Trust me, I know it's hard.
I even find myself talking to ChatGPT like it's a person. I say things like, “You can do a better job with this answer” or “Thanks for the help!” It's easy to think that your bot is a trusted ally, but it definitely isn't. It is a data collection tool like any other.
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