Is ChatGPT Safe? Privacy & Hidden Risks Explored

ChatGPT is a generative pre-trained transformer chatbot designed by OpenAI that was released on November 30, 2022. It is based on OpenAI’s GPT-3 family of big language models and has been fine-tuned with both supervised and reinforcement learning approaches. ChatGPT is robust, even though its primary role is to resemble a human conversation.

It can perform different tasks such as building and debugging computer programs, composing music and essays, answering exam questions, writing poetry, replicating a Linux system, simulating a complete chat room, playing games like tic-tac-toe, etc. It is a game-changing technology because it’s been trained to understand what humans imply when they ask questions. Is ChatGPT safe to use? Let’s go through this article and find it out.

Is ChatGPT Safe?

ChatGPT Use Cases:

ChatGPT can be applied in a variety of sectors. It can be employed, for example, to generate targeted, automated replies to consumer inquiries in e-commerce, to develop high-quality content for email or social media marketing, and to teach and train students on a variety of topics in e-learning.

Chat GPT provides human-like text answers. It is capable of answering queries in a clear and friendly way. ChatGPT can handle almost everything from constructing neural networks to just correcting a code with a query. The most recent model has already emerged as a potential replacement for Google Search. A few use cases of ChatGPT include:

  • It can understand and react to a wide variety of linguistic inputs.
  • It can learn and improve from user-based interactions.
  • Customer service automation
  • Alternative to existing search engines
  • Generating SQL Queries
  • Research and Content Curation

Use cases of ChatGPT

Is There A ChatGPT App, And Is It Safe To Download?

ChatGPT is currently unavailable for download from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. It is a free service, as per OpenAI, but only during the research period. To use the ChatGPT chatbot on any device, you need to follow some basic steps. On your device, open Chrome and then navigate to the official website of OpenAI.

Under the ChatGPT section, click on ‘Try ChatGPT’. Enter an email address and a password on the sign-up page to create an account. Or you can even login with your Google or Microsoft account. Verify your email address (you can even provide your phone number). After the account creation is successful, choose your Playground and ask as many questions as you like.

Account creation ChatGPT

Is ChatGPT Safe To Use?

The answer to the question “Is ChatGPT Safe to use?” can be biased. There is no danger in accessing it for personal, educational, or training purposes, such as for writing an assignment or answering questions. But, when seen in a larger context, excessive usage of such chatbots can raise several problems, including safety and ethical concerns. Some of the potential ChatGPT security issues may include:

1. Malware Development:

Phishing, social engineering, and malware generation are among the most serious and prevalent concerns resulting from hackers’ exploitation of ChatGPT. In practice, such technologies lower the investment in the malware development kit, making it simple to produce entry-level malware. A recent analysis from the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future included ChatGPT and discovered over 1,582 references detailing malware development in various dark web forums.

The forums were full of information on creating malware with ChatGPT and proof-of-concept code, mostly aimed at spamming, hacking, and credit card fraud. Experts, on the other hand, said that such data availability opens new opportunities for everyone, including those with inferior programming skills and a primitive understanding of computer science.

Is ChatGPT Safe?

2. Phishing Emails:

ChatGPT is capable of producing error-free phishing emails, thus deceiving users to hand up their confidential information to hackers. It is highly beneficial for individuals who struggle to initiate native conversations to trick people. The chatbot has demonstrated the concept that ArtificiaI Intelligence can do all of the work for the malicious attacker. The only thing they must know is how to assemble the jigsaw pieces from different iterations.

Now that ChatGPT has been around for a while, the AI tool has honed its skills, rejecting simple requests to “write a phishing email” by issuing a warning or banning users owing to suspicious conduct.

Is ChatGPT Safe?

3. Ethical Issues:

AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, employ machine learning to produce high-quality content, conduct discussions, develop code, and perform other tasks. This may have an effect on employment, which is becoming a serious ethical issue.

As per experts, widespread usage of ChatGPT or other AI technologies might result in the loss of jobs at a large scale, particularly in sectors that operate daily. The influence of artificial intelligence tools on employment is yet uncertain. Nonetheless, there is a good likelihood that technology will outnumber job growth in the upcoming years.

Is ChatGPT Safe?

4. Threat to Q&A websites

ChatGPT might prove dangerous to the economic models of StackOverflow, Quora, and other question-and-answer-based websites. Many users have already started copying and pasting answers from such AI chatbots as responses to queries asked on these platforms.

ChatGPT can very easily invent unique facts and data to support its arguments or to emit code that is very well structured. Stack Exchange even banned users from uploading output from ChatGPT on its platform in December 2022.

Is ChatGPT Safe?

5. A Cybersecurity Threat

Hackers have already started using ChatGPT with a malicious intent to launch cyberattacks utilizing the AI’s code-developing skills. It can be used to carry out cyber assaults in a variety of methods, including automated scanning for vulnerabilities and testing new attack strategies.

Advanced persistent threats (APTs) can use ChatGPT to carry out highly targeted assaults to steal critical data or disrupt operations. Experts have already predicted that we are less than a year away from a cyber attack credited to ChatGPT.

Is ChatGPT Safe?

End Note:

ChatGPT is a powerful AI chatbot designed to assist users in generating information effortlessly. However, it’s crucial to acknowledge that ChatGPT, like any technology, is not entirely foolproof, and there’s a potential security risk. Hackers may exploit it to distribute phishing emails and engage in financial fraud.

Despite the recent hype, cybersecurity experts have expressed concerns about the bot’s capabilities, going so far as to label it a “malware-writing” tool and a significant security issue. Having read the article, what’s your take on the safety of using ChatGPT? Share your thoughts in the comments and let us know your opinion.

Rashi

Leave a Comment