Cybersecurity Awareness Month highlights identity theft risks in AI chatbot histories

Cybersecurity Awareness Month highlights identity theft risks in AI chatbot histories

by Holly Menino, KOMO News Anchor

As artificial intelligence becomes a bigger part of daily life, cybersecurity experts are warning people to think twice about what they share with AI chatbots — especially during October, which is Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Nearly half of adults in the United States use AI chatbots, according to the Pew Research Center. With that growing use, experts say it is important to pay attention to the information being entered into chatbots because chat histories could become valuable to identity thieves.

Thomas Clayton, president of Aura, discussed how oversharing with AI can create new risks, including how personal details shared with a chatbot could be used to make scams more dangerous. He also addressed steps people can take to protect themselves before sharing information with a chatbot, whether it is possible to delete chatbot history or information after oversharing, and what Aura is doing to help protect people from AI-related threats.