AI chatbots are friendly, helpful, and always available. That makes it easy to overshare. Here’s a simple rule for what’s safe to tell ChatGPT, Claude, and the rest: treat it like a stranger on the street.
Perfect for sending to someone who won't read a whole article.
AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude are friendly, patient, and available at 2 a.m. They’ll help you write an email, plan a trip, or talk through a problem. It’s easy to start treating them like a trusted friend.
But there’s a simple rule worth keeping in mind every time you type.
Treat an AI chatbot like a stranger on the street. Be friendly, ask questions, share general information. But you’d never walk up to a stranger and hand them your bank password or your deepest secrets. Don’t hand them to a chatbot either.
When you use a third-party AI, you’re not talking to something that lives on your phone. Everything you type goes to a company’s computers. Depending on the service and your settings, it may be stored, reviewed, or used to help improve future models.
Most companies promise to handle your data responsibly, and many do. But once information leaves your hands, you no longer control it. Companies get hacked, data leaks happen, settings change, and shared chat links can end up public. Once it’s out there, somebody else could get hold of it and use it however they see fit.
Scammers love AI too. If a chatbot, or anyone pretending to be one, asks you for a password or a payment, that’s not the AI being helpful. That’s a scam wearing a friendly face. See What Is Social Engineering?
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