The right way to deal with AI

Generative AI and various AI tools are now an integral part of our everyday lives and have become indispensable in many areas. Whether chatbots, content generators or large language models (LLM) – all of these inventions are designed to provide useful information as efficiently as possible and have great potential for society. However, they should also be treated with caution. AI-based technologies are still in their development phase and continue to exhibit inaccuracies. As a result, working with AI has its limits and holds numerous pitfalls for users that may have significant consequences. Find out below what dangers and risks arise when dealing with artificial intelligence and how you can best counteract them by using it responsibly.

Beware of prejudices and discriminatory statements

AI models learn on the basis of extensive data sets and process their content unfiltered. If these contain prejudices or discriminatory statements, the AI tool learns the corresponding formulations and saves them for a possible response to subsequent search queries. As a result, there is a risk that discriminatory statements and prejudices will be reproduced in both text and image-based content and thus contribute to their consolidation in society. Such statements can in turn have a hurtful effect on other people and cause emotional distress.

For this reason, it is particularly important for sensitive topics to find out about the ethically correct use of AI tools, to critically scrutinize AI-generated content and to verify information if necessary. Content filters help you to prevent inappropriate responses. You can also make a positive contribution to feeding the AI’s data sets and counteracting the perpetuation of stereotypes and misinformation through your own behavior towards chatbots. Fair and respectful search commands generate empathetic and helpful results and can therefore prevent cyberbullying or hate messages. Inappropriate and transgressive behavior should be reported immediately.

Safety first: privacy and data protection when working with AI

When interacting with chatbots, users often share personal or sensitive data that is collected in large quantities and stored on the servers. This carries the risk of a data leak and may result in your data being used in an unwanted way without your knowledge.

To counteract data misuse, you should make sure that you use AI technologies that use end-to-end encryption and store the data on secure servers. It is also advisable to use applications in which the data protection settings can be customized. Always pay attention to what information you include in the search commands and avoid sharing sensitive or personal data. This applies to both private and professional contexts.

The security risk has already prompted some companies to prohibit the use of AI tools for data protection reasons. Clear guidelines should be defined in their working environment and data anonymization should be implemented. To maintain customer trust, you should also communicate transparently about the use of AI and always keep up to date with the latest data protection and compliance regulations.

This is mine! – Plagiarism and use of intellectual property

Due to the fact that AI models are trained on the basis of huge amounts of data and fed by numerous existing texts and visual content, it is possible to unknowingly reproduce existing ideas or content. This often raises questions about copyright or intellectual property and can lead to plagiarism and infringement of usage rights. Copyright provisions are regulated by law and in some cases require licenses or permissions.

To avoid such infringements, you can use special tools that check texts for similarities and detect plagiarism. In addition, you should always cite sources in order to create transparency and show respect for the intellectual property of others. You should regularly inform yourself about current regulations and guidelines.

How AI influences the public

Misuse of AI can lead to unintended harm and unforeseen consequences in the real world. False information is difficult for users to distinguish from validated information, content can be deliberately manipulated or deepfakes can be generated. In this way, individuals can be discredited, fake news and conspiracy theories can be spread unfiltered and fraudulent behavior can be encouraged. This in turn can influence public opinions and decisions, destabilize trust in the media and steer public discourse.

It is important that you are aware of this danger and learn to identify manipulated content. The output of AI models should therefore always be critically evaluated and verified. Special tools can help you to detect false information. If you notice critical or manipulated posts, contact the relevant platforms immediately to report them and counteract further dissemination.

Loss of control due to quantity instead of quality

AI technologies learn something new every time they are used and continue to develop almost every second. This contributes to their innovative dynamism. At the same time, however, the increasing frequency of data flows can also mean that the information processed cannot be sufficiently checked. The security and ethical standards of applications can suffer from a lack of control over AI-based data. In addition, AI models become more and more complex with increasing data feeds, develop unpredictable reactions to new search queries and may act in unintended ways.

In order to fully exploit the positive potential of artificial intelligence, it therefore needs to be handled responsibly. To this end, it is important to constantly monitor and regulate AI models in order to prevent possible negative consequences, such as the misuse of AI tools to spread computer viruses, develop weapons or carry out cyberattacks. It is therefore important to understand the potential impact, take safety measures and report possible incidents to the applications immediately.

The impact of AI on the environment

The impact of artificial intelligence is no longer limited to technical development, but also has ecological consequences. The reason for this is the increasing energy consumption associated with the use, training and further development of AI models. As this is associated with additional CO2 emissions, the progressive implementation of AI technologies is causing increasing concern.

For a more sustainable use of artificial intelligence, find out about energy-efficient and green AI models that aim to minimize their ecological footprint. Be mindful of how you use AI tools, avoid unnecessary interactions and support companies that support energy-efficient AI development.

How to AI: a guide to responsible use

It is clear that AI models harbor a number of risks. However, if artificial intelligence is used thoughtfully and responsibly, the use of such tools can also bring great potential and make an important contribution to advancing our society. All in all, it is important to be aware of the potential dangers and to handle AI tools with sensitivity. It helps to follow current discourse on the development, use and regulation of artificial intelligence.

These innovative technologies are still in the early stages of development. You should therefore be vigilant when handling AI-based data and information. Make sure that AI technologies are not used as a basic source, but rather as a helpful addition to the work process. In addition to AI-generated content, you should always carry out further research based on reliable and validated sources or, if in doubt, seek qualified professional advice.

In principle, it is extremely important to regularly check and monitor AI results and make improvements to their use. In this way, suitable solutions can be promoted, potential damage can be prevented and the great potential can be exploited to the full.

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson ist Marketing Director Germany bei GoDaddy und seit mehr als zehn Jahren als Marketingexpertin in der IT-Branche tätig. Seit sechs Jahren kümmert sie sich speziell um den Anbieter GoDaddy in Deutschland, mit besonderem Fokus auf digitales Marketing. Ein besonderes Anliegen ist ihr die Digitalisierung von Mikro- und Kleinunternehmer:innen.