Amazon.com Inc AMZN has issued internal guidelines advising its employees against using third-party generative AI tools for work-related tasks.
Amazon Cautions Employees Against Third-Party AI Tools: Amazon recently sent a cautionary email to its employees, warning them against the use of third-party generative AI tools for work-related tasks. The company expressed concerns about the ownership of data input and output by these tools, particularly in light of Microsoft‘s significant investment in OpenAI.
“While we may find ourselves using GenAl tools, especially when it seems to make life easier, we should be sure not to use it for confidential Amazon work,” the company warned employees in a recent email.
“Don’t share any confidential Amazon, customer, or employee data when you’re using 3rd party GenAl tools. Generally, confidential data would be data that is not publicly available.”
An internal document stated that the use of third-party generative AI tools, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, for confidential Amazon work is strictly prohibited, and also warned that companies providing generative AI services may claim ownership of any data input into their tools.
Amazon’s internal documents also detailed an informal warning from an Amazon corporate lawyer last year, cautioning employees against providing OpenAI’s ChatGPT with any Amazon confidential information, pointing out instances of ChatGPT responses resembling internal Amazon data.
Despite these warnings, Amazon has recently softened its stance on Microsoft systems, as evidenced by its recent $1 billion, five-year deal for Microsoft 365 licenses.
Amazon maintains its commitment to safeguarding its proprietary data and preventing unauthorized usage through these precautionary measures.
Significance of Amazon’s Move: The warning to employees comes amid a series of significant developments in the company’s AI landscape. Earlier this year, Amazon’s AI chatbot, ‘Q,’ faced criticism for producing incorrect outputs, or ‘hallucinations,’ due to a rushed launch and the deployment of a less proficient version of Anthropic’s Claude AI model. In response, Amazon expanded its team of human reviewers to manually fine-tune the chatbot’s outputs.
Despite these challenges, Amazon unveiled an AI tool in its mobile app to respond to customer queries about products, aiming to simplify the shopping experience. The tool can also generate content in different styles, such as writing a haiku or emulating Yoda’s speech.
Founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has expressed optimism about the potential of generative AI tools, stating that they are more likely to bring innovation and enhancement than destruction.
In its ongoing quest to harness cutting-edge AI technology, Amazon has been proactive in addressing the challenges associated with deploying third-party AI tools and remains committed to incorporating AI models and technologies in a manner that safeguards proprietary data and maximizes value for its customers.
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