Apple is banning employees from using ChatGPT and other AI chatbots

Just yesterday we told you that OpenAI released an iPhone app for ChatGPT with an Android app coming soon. But if you're an Apple employee, you are not allowed to use the conversational AI chatbot. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is preventing employees from using not just ChatGPT but also other third-party AI platforms. The reason is that Apple is developing its own AI platform and is concerned that those working on this technology might accidentally reveal confidential information.

The Journal says that Apple has also warned employees not to use GitHub's CoPilot which is an AI-based automatic software code writer. The reason for all of this caution has to do with the way these conversational AI chatbots work. They use a language model that can answer questions, perform tasks, and write essays in a manner that copies human behavior. When an app like ChatGPT is being used, information is sent to the developer to improve the chatbot which could allow the platform to receive confidential information by accident.

Apple isn't the only company keeping its employees away from ChatGPT as banking and securities firm JP Morgan Chase and wireless firm Verizon have also restricted their work force from using the the AI platform. The New York City Public Schools system originally put ChatGPT on a list of restricted websites before rescinding the ban.

Earlier this year, ChatGPT was temporarily taken offline when a bug allowed some users to see another ChatGPT user's past chat history. This could have allowed some users to see another active ChatGPT user's first and last name, email address, payment address, the last four digits of a credit card number, and credit card expiration date. Luckily, the bug did not allow users' full credit card numbers to be leaked. 

Recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave his opinion of the AI chatbots during Apple's fiscal second quarter earnings conference call. Cook said, "I do think it’s very important to be deliberate and thoughtful in how you approach these things. And there’s a number of issues that need to be sorted as is being talked about in a number of different places, but the potential is certainly very interesting."

And just in case you're interested, the ChatGPT app can be installed from the App Store by tapping on this link. But if you work for Apple, don't you dare go near this listing.