AI Privacy

Think of AI like a helpful stranger

An AI assistant is like a friendly, knowledgeable helper you just met. You would happily ask a helpful stranger for directions or a recipe. You would not hand them your Social Security card. The same instinct works perfectly for AI.

Never share these

Keep these out of any AI conversation: Social Security numbers, bank account and credit card numbers, passwords, your exact home address paired with travel plans, and Medicare or insurance ID numbers. No legitimate AI assistant needs any of these to help you.

Fine to share

General information is fine and makes the help better: your age range, your city or region, your interests, what kind of help you need, and general health topics you want explained. Saying 'I am in my seventies and planning a trip to Ireland in May' is useful context, not a privacy risk.

A useful middle ground

For letters and paperwork, use placeholders. Instead of typing your account number into a complaint letter, write [ACCOUNT NUMBER] and fill it in after you copy the letter out. You get the AI's writing help without sharing the sensitive part.

One more tip: AI companies may use conversations to improve their products. Most AI assistants have a setting to turn this off. It is worth finding, or asking the AI itself: 'How do I stop my chats from being used for training?'