ChatGPT Remembers Everything About You. How Worried Should You Be?

Many of us agree on the conveniences of ChatGPT. It offers answers to tough questions, it can analyze tons of data instantaneously and … dare I say it .. it can even provide us with some form of companionship. But what we might not realize is that when we share private information with ChatGPT, whether it’s about our health, relationships, feelings or anything else, it’s not actually private. It’s not protected. Our queries are owned by OpenAI. And if circumstances emerged that required it, our inputs could be used against us in a court of law. 

We’re divided on whether or not we should care about this, and what, if anything, we should do about it. This is why I am exploring online privacy in the age of AI in this episode of The Intersect, where I am joined by tech and culture reporter Taylor Lorenz and Stanford Privacy and Data Policy Fellow Dr. Jennifer King. Together we decode this pivotal moment, and offer ways to navigate it mindfully. As Jen reminds us, there are plenty of ways we can still protect ourselves and all hope is not lost even as technology becomes increasingly embedded in every aspect of our lives. Listen to uncover how. 

Topics Covered:

• What are we giving away by being fully honest with AI?
• What ‘data nihilism’ is and why Gen Z feels powerless in protecting their privacy online
• Why our “moral panic” over smartphones is obsolete
• Why you might want to rethink what you share with pregnancy tracking apps
• How you can protect your data in the age of ChatGPT

About Taylor Lorenz:

Taylor Lorenz is a tech and online culture reporter and founder of User Magazine, a tech and online culture newsletter on Substack. She hosts a weekly tech and online culture podcast, Power User. Taylor is a former technology columnist at The Washington Post, and a former technology reporter for The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Business Insider. Her work has appeared in New York Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, and other major outlets. She regularly appears on CNN, NBC, the BBC and other TV news channels to discuss online culture. 

Follow Taylor Lorenz on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn at @taylorlorenz

About Jennifer King:

Jennifer King is the Privacy and Data Policy Fellow at the Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. An information scientist by training, Dr. King is a recognized expert and scholar in information privacy. Sitting at the intersection of human-computer interaction, law, and the social sciences, her research examines the public’s understanding and expectations of online privacy as well as the policy implications of emerging technologies. 

Follow Dr. Jennifer King on LinkedIn

Follow The Intersect: 

Theintersectshow.com 

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