So can private information uploaded to artificial intelligence platforms be found by other users? We asked experts in AI, data and cyber security to explain.<\/p>\n
What has happened to the data?<\/p>\n
It is hard to know for sure, but it is possible data from the breach was included in the information used to train ChatGPT.<\/p>\n
Queensland University of Technology senior research fellow in AI accountability Aaron Snoswell said companies such as OpenAI, which owned ChatGPT, trained and updated their AI models every few months to improve the software.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Applicants in a NSW government housing buyback scheme have been affected by a data breach. (ABC North Coast: Bronwyn Herbert)<\/p>\n
The companies use an enormous amount of data to do that, including user data \u2014 unless users have opted out.<\/p>\n
“They use a bunch of mathematics to try to force these models to try to appear intelligent by mimicking what it sees in that collection of data,” Dr Snoswell said.<\/p>\n
CSIRO’s Data61 senior research scientist Chamikara Mahawaga Arachchige (M.A.P. Chamikara) said if personal information was inadvertently included in the training information, there was a small chance it could influence the system.<\/p>\n
The risk would be if other users tried to track down that information by asking ChatGPT to share it.<\/p>\n
“There is an area called prompt inject, where you try to manipulate your simple prompts into sophisticated prompts so that these models tend to reveal sensitive information,” Dr M.A.P. Chamikara said.<\/p>\n
Can the data be found on ChatGPT?<\/p>\n
Assuming the data breach information was used in ChatGPT training material (though that is not certain), Dr Snoswell said it was possible someone who asked could receive it.<\/p>\n
But Dr Snoswell said AI models did not store data in the way files were saved on a computer due to the huge amounts of information they had to process.<\/p>\n
“It’s much more like a statistical soup of approximations,” he said.<\/p>\n
So if you ask ChaptGPT for personal information, it will likely provide an answer \u2014 but that does not mean it will be accurate.<\/p>\n
Will AI undermine justice?<\/a><\/p>\n Artificial intelligence is coming for the law. Are we ready for robots to become judge and jury?<\/p>\n “These models tend to try and please the user,” Dr Snowell said.<\/p>\n “It’s called sycophancy \u2014 it’s a known problem with these models.<\/p>\n “They will try and comply with your request even if that means making things up.<\/p>\n “You wouldn’t be able to trust what it says, necessarily.”<\/p>\n How serious is this kind of breach?<\/p>\n Australia, like much of the world, has seen several significant data breaches over the last few years. Think Optus<\/a> and Medibank<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dr Snoswell said the Reconstruction Authority breach appeared to have been accidental, not malicious.<\/p>\n “The data has been uploaded to one unauthorised third party, rather than stolen by someone maliciously and then sold on to other parties or maybe [used in] a ransom situation,” he said.<\/p>\n The NSW Reconstruction Authority’s program is helping people recover from floods in 2022. (Supplied: Rotor Wing)<\/p>\n According to Dr M.A.P. Chamikara, the worst-case scenario would be if the data was seen by someone who was in a position to copy it.<\/p>\n “If it was copied elsewhere \u2026 it could be used for scams or identity theft.<\/p>\n “While that seems unlikely here, we have to assume some risks remain.”<\/p>\n What should concerned people do?<\/p>\n People included in this data breach will be contacted by the NSW Reconstruction Authority in the coming week.<\/p>\n The authority said it was working with Cyber Security NSW to monitor the internet and dark web to determine whether any of the information was accessible online.<\/p>\n \u00a0But it said, at this stage, there was no evidence it had been accessed by a third party.<\/p>\n A government agency called ID Support NSW also provides expert advice, free resources and personalised support for people affected by data breaches.<\/p>\n People with compromised data should to stay alert for possible scams. (ABC North West Queensland: Kemii Maguire)<\/p>\n Dr M.A.P. Chamikara said it was always a good idea to take some broader precautions.<\/p>\n “Change passwords, enable two-factor authentication to the services they are involved with,” he said.<\/p>\n “Watch for suspicious emails, calls or messages [and] never click on the links available in these emails or messages. Keep an eye on bank or credit activities, whether there are any surprises.<\/p>\n “Those steps go a long way to staying safe.”<\/p>\n In terms of using AI software, Dr M.A.P. Chamikara said it was important to treat these services as if they were public forums.<\/p>\n “Don’t trust these kind of services as if they’re your buddy,” he said.<\/p>\n Can data be removed from ChatGPT?<\/p>\n Yes.<\/p>\n OpenAI has a function allowing users to ask for their personal data to be removed from ChatGPT.<\/p>\n If you have evidence suggesting your personal data has been inadvertently captured, you can search for the OpenAI privacy centre and make a personal data removal request.<\/p>\n “They’ll do their best to remove that data, potentially \u2014 but the catch here is that here in Australia, our data laws are not as strong as some other countries,” Dr Snoswell said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A NSW government data breach exposing up to 3,000 people has raised questions about the risks artificial intelligence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,121698,5004,121695,14279,81143,123380,123382,40797,123381,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-195978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-buyback-scheme","14":"tag-chatgpt","15":"tag-cyber-security-nsw","16":"tag-data-breach","17":"tag-flood-victims","18":"tag-nsw-ra","19":"tag-open-source-ai","20":"tag-reconstruction-authority","21":"tag-resilient-homes","22":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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