How to use ChatGPT Responsibly

If you’re a marketer, you’ve probably heard more conversations about ChatGPT over the last two years than any other tool in your whole career.
Its capabilities have revolutionised sales, marketing, coding and countless other industries. But with most marketers using it to some degree, are you concerned about how to use ChatGPT responsibly… and what that even means?
In this blog, we’ll explore what ethical AI means, and how to use ChatGPT responsibly.

Privacy first

ChatGPT, and other LLMs, are not designed to handle sensitive information like names, addresses and passwords. LLMs can learn from the data it’s exposed to, so there are risks of unintended data leaks or misuse of sensitive information.

The easiest way to overcome this is simply not to input sensitive information. However, if you or your team is using ChatGPT regularly, it can be hard to stick to this rule every time. That’s why OpenAI provides a feature which allows you to turn off the “disable chat history and training”.

This means that your data isn’t stored to improve the model, so it’s a more cyber-secure and confidential way of using the tool.

Fact check, fact check, fact check

ChatGPT makes no secret that it can make mistakes. From outdated to out-of-context and flawed data, OpenAI simply doesn’t have the understanding of a human expert.

It can also only generate responses based on the training it was given. With literally a countless number of topics to learn about, it would be impossible for ChatGPT to be trained on every single one of them.

Just like a human, OpenAI can try and fill in knowledge gaps with misinformation, so fact-checking with reliable sources is essential for responsible and ethical AI usage.

Being climate conscious

With climate change becoming more and more pertinent, it’s important to consider the effects of your organisation’s AI usage on the environment.

​ChatGPT, like other advanced AI models, has a notable environmental footprint primarily due to its substantial energy and water consumption during both training and operational phases. Recent studies have shown that an average ChatGPT session, involving 10 to 50 queries, can consume up to half a litre of freshwater!

Having an awareness of this is a huge part of responsible AI usage. Consider the length of your queries, or whether your query can be answered with a quick Google.

ChatGPT has creative limitations

No machine can know your business quite like you or your team. It can’t replace the nuance, creativity and originality of human writing. And as content marketing experts, we don’t believe it will!

ChatGPT is a fantastic source of ideation, inspiration and getting you started on a juicy piece of content, but copy and pasting isn’t going to engage your customers in an increasingly crowded market.

Ultimately, using AI ethically while relying on humans to do what we do best gives your business a great competitive edge.

Remember that ChatGPT can be biased

Ultimately, humans train AI. And as humans, we tend to have biases whether conscious or not. Several studies show that although bias and discrimination isn’t as much of an issue in the most recent models of ChatGPT, there has been a clear bias picked up in the responses of OpenAI.

One 2023 study found that ChatGPT can perpetuate gender bias in machine translation. For example, they found that ChatGPT perpetuates gender stereotypes assigned to certain occupations (e.g., man = doctor, woman = nurse).

To use ChatGPT’s responses ethically, it’s helpful to be conscious that it’s not strictly impartial. We can also be part of making a positive difference in this. After all, it learns from the prompts of humans.

As an AI marketing agency, we have a team of AI marketing experts who know how to speak human. With thousands of AI tools changing how marketers work, we can help you drive efficiency and creativity within your teams.

By using responsible AI, you can supercharge productivity and ultimately drive more revenue for your business.

Ready to learn more? Get in touch with one of our experts today.