Public warned against sharing data with AI chatbot

National

AS ARTIFICIAL intelligence chatbox starts to become a helping tool for users trying to navigate certain tasks and processes, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) cautioned Filipino netizens to be "more discerning" when engaging with it.

DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy urged the public to be careful especially with sharing data with AI chatbot particularly on the extent of data shared.

Uy made the said pronouncement following the worldwide disruption caused by a Chinese AI startup called DeepSeek which made distruptions after the AI assistant became the top free application available on Apple's App Store in the United States.

“This DeepSeek is disruptive and game-changing because it shattered the preconceived notion that one needs huge amounts of GPUs and hundreds of millions of dollars to develop AI," Uy said during a forum in Manila last week.

The disruption to the markets also raised national security questions over China's progress in developing advanced AI.

The disruption made by DeepSeek has been closely monitored by DICT especially that huge companies like Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon were also affected.

He said that a user must be mindful in engaging with AI, especially sharing information or data, emphasizing that AI's capability depends on how much data is being shared by the user.

“Data is the fuel of AI. AI is the engine, but AI won’t run without fuel, and data is the fuel of AI. The more data you feed the AI, the more intelligent the AI will be. The less data you provide, the more limited the AI’s capability will be,” Uy said per a The Philippine Star report.

He added that once the data shared with AI will be added to the information or data collection and cannot be taken back.(LAO)