A leaked email to employees revealed Amazon's guidelines for using third-party GenAI tools at work.
Business Insider claims that the email mandates employees to refrain from using third-party software due to data security concerns.
“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 email reads. “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.”
This is not the first time that Amazon has had to remind employees. A company lawyer advised employees not to provide ChatGPT with "any Amazon confidential information (including Amazon code you are working on)" in a letter dated January 20, 2023.
The warning was issued due to concerns that these types of third-party resources may claim ownership over the information that workers exchange, leading to future output that might involve or resemble confidential data. "There have already been cases where the results closely align with pre-existing material," the lawyer stated at the time.
Over half of employees are using GenAI without permission from their employer, according to Salesforce research, and seven out of ten employees are using AI without receiving training on its safe or ethical use. Merely 17% of American industries own vaguely defined AI policies. In sectors like healthcare, where 87% of worldwide workers report that their employer lacks a clear policy on AI use, the issue is particularly noticeable.
Employers and HR departments need to have greater insight into how their staff members are utilising AI in order to ensure that they are using it carefully.
