Artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT have unearthed some incredible opportunities for businesses to streamline their processes and save time. However, as the use of these tools becomes increasingly widespread, businesses must consider the potential risks. 

While these tools can undoubtedly provide valuable insights and create efficiencies, there are several risks to consider, including how personal data is handled and the risk of breaches, inaccurate or misleading content, intellectual property infringement, breach of confidentiality, and of course plagiarism.

So, what do businesses need to know about these risks and how can they be mitigated?

Inaccurate or misleading content

It’s well known that while AI tools like Chat GPT can create content at the click of a button, that the content itself is often inaccurate. Unfortunately these tools do not verify the accuracy of the information they generate - that’s up to you. 

The risks here can be significant. If unverified AI generated information is shared with customers or clients, it can equate to inaccurate, misleading or negligent advice which at best can damage your reputation or at worst can result in liability and legal action. 

It’s important that businesses closely scrutinise and verify any content created through AI tools such as ChatGPT before publishing or sharing it. And if the risk of sharing that information is too great - even once verified - avoid it completely. 

Plagiarism

A key risk that has been quite topical of late is plagiarism. AI tools like ChatGPT access information that is available from open sources and rehash it. That creates a genuine plagiarism risk. 

To avoid an accusation of plagiarism, any content generated through AI tools like Chat GPT must be edited to be original and thoroughly checked and rewritten. One way to avoid an accusation of plagiarism is to leverage tools which can detect plagiarism as well as tools which can detect when content has been generated through AI.

Personal data breaches

If personal data from customers, employees, and partners is input into AI tools, there can be a significant risk of a breach. If this data falls into the wrong hands, it can result in significant harm to individuals, damage to the company's reputation, and even legal action. 

Therefore, businesses must ensure that their AI tools are properly secured and that their data handling practices comply with relevant regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

Intellectual property infringement

AI tools like ChatGPT scrape data from open sources, and are not able to assess whether the content they are generating will infringe on intellectual property. This can present a significant risk. 

Businesses must ensure that any content generated through these tools is original and does not violate any intellectual property rights through undertaking their own validation of the data. 

Confidentiality breaches

Inputting commercially sensitive or confidential business, client, partner or customer data into AI tools like ChatGPT can risk that that information may be revealed more widely or that a breach may take place. You need to consider whether you’re comfortable with the AI tool having access to such revealing information. 

Businesses must take appropriate measures to protect their and their stakeholders’ confidential information when using these tools, such as encrypting data or restricting access to only authorised personnel.

AI tools like ChatGPT provide a lot of value, but it's not without risk. Before you jump in the deep end, make sure you know the risks and how to mitigate them. This includes investing in staff training around how to use AI tools and conducting regular audits of any AI generated content to ensure it is compliant.