To use AI safely: avoid sharing sensitive data, verify important claims in original sources, look for missing perspectives and bias, label synthetic content honestly, check permissions before using tools or agents, and keep a responsible person in control of consequential decisions.
Seven practical rules for safer AI use
- Protect personal and confidential information. Do not paste passwords, private records, unreleased work, health information, or other people’s data into a system unless you know exactly how it will be stored and used.
- Verify claims that matter. Ask for sources, then open the original source and check that it really supports the statement. A citation can be invented, outdated, or unrelated.
- Separate assistance from authority. AI can help draft a medical question, legal checklist, or financial scenario; it should not silently become the qualified professional or accountable decision-maker.
- Check for bias and missing cases. Ask whose data, language, geography, age, or situation may be underrepresented. Test examples at the edges, not only the average case.
- Treat media as evidence to investigate. Images, voices, and videos can be generated or edited. Check provenance, context, independent reporting, and the original publisher instead of relying on appearance alone.
- Limit tools and permissions. An AI agent that can send messages, spend money, delete files, or control a machine needs narrower permissions, confirmation gates, logs, and a safe way to stop it.
- Keep humans responsible. Someone must own the decision, understand the limits, monitor outcomes, and provide a way to question or correct harmful results.
How much checking is enough?
Low consequence
Brainstorming names or rephrasing a casual note may need only a quick review.
Medium consequence
A school assignment, public post, or work summary needs fact checking, attribution, and policy awareness.
High consequence
Health, legal, financial, hiring, grading, or safety decisions require qualified human review and trusted sources.
Physical action
Robots and agents need bounded permissions, testing, supervision, and an emergency stop or rollback path.
What should you do when an AI answer seems wrong?
Stop the workflow, save the exact input and output, compare the claim with independent primary sources, and correct any downstream document or decision. If the system affects other people, report the issue to the responsible organization. Do not repeatedly prompt the model until it gives the answer you hoped for; that is not verification.
Common questions
Is it safe to give AI my personal data?
Assume personal data may be stored or processed unless the product clearly says otherwise. Check the service’s controls and your organization’s rules, and minimize what you share.
How can I recognize an AI-generated image?
Visual artifacts alone are unreliable. Investigate the source, use reverse image search, compare trusted reporting, examine available provenance metadata, and look for the earliest publication.
Should students disclose AI use?
Follow the teacher’s or institution’s policy. When AI materially contributes to ideas, language, code, or media, transparent disclosure prevents confusion about authorship and process.
Primary and institutional sources
Research papers explain mechanisms; institutional resources provide guidance. Manufacturer pages describe their own products and are not independent evaluations.
Continue with the companion in ChatGPT
Explore museum themes, ask questions and test your understanding with quizzes in ChatGPT. The companion and the game keep separate progress.
Discover the ChatGPT companionContent reviewed: 6 September 2026. Navigation and resources updated: 1 October 2026. Project method and limits.