OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has sounded alarm bells around sharing too much personal data with an AI system, given that there are currently no frameworks in place to safeguard a user’s privacy. Notably, there has been a growing trend among young AI users to share their personal problems with AI chatbots, seeking relationship, life, or legal advice—largely because these generative AI systems have access to a wide knowledge base.
However, Altman rightly points out that conversations users have with a human lawyer or therapist are privileged—meaning the professional cannot be forced to reveal the details to law enforcement. The same privilege, however, does not apply to an AI system like ChatGPT or Gemini.
Sam Altman on using ChatGPT as a therapist:
Speaking on a podcast with Theo Von, Altman said, “I think we will certainly need a legal or a policy framework for AI um one example that we’ve been thinking about a lot this is like a maybe not quite what you’re asking this is like a very human centric version of that question people talk about the most personal shit in their lives to ChatGPT it’s you know people use it young people especially like use it as a therapist a life coach uh having these relationship problems, what should I do? And right now, if you talk to a therapist or a lawyer or a doctor about those problems, there’s like legal privilege for it, you know, like it’s there’s doctor patient confidentiality, there’s legal confidentiality”
“And we don’t we haven’t figured that out yet for when you talk to ChatGPT. So, if you go talk to ChatGPT about your most sensitive stuff and then there’s like a lawsuit or whatever, like we could be required to produce that. And I think that’s very screwed up. I think we should have like the same concept of privacy for your conversations with AI that we do with a therapist or whatever.” he further noted.
Altman also stated that there is a growing consensus among lawmakers he has spoken to about introducing these legal safeguards. He said, “I think we need this point addressed with some urgency. Um and you know the policy makers I’ve talked to about it like broadly agree it’s just it’s new and now we got to do it quickly.”
