OpenAI Executive Discusses AI Safety Concerns and System Security Measures

Chris Lehane, Chief Global Affairs Officer at OpenAI, recently spoke about an investigation concerning a breach in an Australian government Medicare portal linked to OpenAI. He discussed the context of the July security incident during an interview with Lawrence Jones and shared findings from their ongoing inquiry. Lehane also responded to a Fox News poll indicating that a significant portion of Americans, 71 percent, oppose local AI data centers.

With the rise in AI use for personal guidance, OpenAI has introduced the ‘Locked Chats’ feature to enhance privacy for conversations in ChatGPT. By securing individual discussions with a four-digit PIN, users can keep certain chats private. On devices that support them, Face ID, Touch ID, or the phone’s unlock method can also be used for this purpose. The addition is timely as more users seek AI insights for personal issues.

‘Locked Chats’ offers a way to store personal conversations without deleting them. Protected conversations reside under ‘Projects > Locked Chats,’ separated from regular chat histories and searches. When a chat is locked, the conversation’s title and contents stay secured until the user decides to reopen it.

This feature is gradually rolling out to various ChatGPT user plans, including Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu. However, it does not apply to ChatGPT for Healthcare. OpenAI cautions that not all conversations can be locked. Temporary Chats and some other types are excluded.

Setting Up Locked Chats

To lock a conversation, follow these steps:

• Open ChatGPT and sign in.
• Locate the desired conversation.
• Access the three-dot menu (•••).
• Select ‘Lock chat’ and confirm.
• Create a four-digit PIN if prompted.

Your conversation moves to ‘Locked Chats,’ using the same PIN across devices where you are signed in.

Biometric Authentication

Typing a PIN repeatedly could become bothersome. Fortunately, OpenAI supports biometric authentication, like Face ID or Touch ID on iPhones, and device unlock on supported Android phones, such as Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel.

For iPhones:

• Open the ChatGPT app.
• Go to the sidebar, tap your profile for Settings.
• Select ‘Security and login’ and tap ‘Account PIN.’
• Turn on ‘Use Face ID’ or ‘Use Touch ID.’

Android users can enable device unlock by following similar steps within the ChatGPT app.

Limitations and Privacy Considerations

While Locked Chats enhance privacy, they are not encrypted end-to-end. Locking a conversation doesn’t prevent OpenAI from retaining information beyond its usual retention policies. Care should be taken when sharing sensitive data.

To prevent your conversations from being used for AI training, adjust your privacy settings by disabling ‘Improve the model for everyone.’ This setting is not active for Business, Enterprise, and Edu accounts by default.

Conclusion

As the use of AI in personal matters grows, features like Locked Chats provide users a way to manage privacy. Despite its advantages, users should remain aware of the limitations in confidentiality and consider their privacy settings thoughtfully.