More than two-thirds of Australians use AI tools at work in violation of company policy, according to the report. Many people hide their usage to avoid scrutiny and judgment from their peers.
Research shows that half of workers who intentionally break office AI rules would rather use the technology without telling anyone than risk being told it’s prohibited.
But experts have warned that unauthorized use of AI could lead to workers being fired.
Despite these warnings, most office professionals believe they understand how to use AI better than the teams managing the technology. Three-quarters of Australians complain that their employer’s AI restrictions are limiting their career growth, according to research from PagerDuty.
Technology communications consultant Christos Tzortzis said using unauthorized AI is not worth the risk.
Mr. Tzortzis has more than 10 years of experience in this field, and part of his work includes analyzing cybersecurity threats, many of which stem from the use of unauthorized technology by employees.
“If you’re using ChatGPT and you’re not entering sensitive or confidential information, you’re probably OK,” he said.
“But if you’re working with customer information and you’re inputting something like sensitive contact information into one of your AI models that’s not locked down (securely in your workplace), it’s not worth it.
“You’re putting yourself in a lot of trouble, whether it’s legal action, termination, or reputational issues. Either way, it’s not worth the risk.”
Tzoltzis explained that all companies need clear policies to enable the safe use of AI, especially given research showing that most employees “use AI anyway.”
sauce: daily telegraph
