A chatbot can save time on writing text or organizing tasks, but the error becomes more serious when the system gains access to mail, banking services or office files. The riskiest situations are related to excessive permissions, inaccurate responses and sharing information that should not leave the organization.
Excessive permissions open the door to errors
Connecting a digital assistant to email and applications can make everyday work easier, but it increases the possible consequences of incorrect action. An AI agent can be misled by a malicious instruction hidden in a web page, email or document. Thus, a system that has the right to read or send messages can perform an action outside of its original task.
Therefore, financial transfers, sending sensitive information, and changing passwords should require personal confirmation. OWASP recommends that agents be granted only the minimum necessary rights and that there be human control for high-risk actions.
A convincing answer is not proof of accuracy
Medical and financial advice are among the most dangerous uses of chatbots. The system can give an answer that sounds logical but miss an important symptom, use outdated market data, or present inaccurate information about taxes and regulations.
The World Health Organization warns that language models can generate answers that appear authoritative but contain serious errors. “Caution is needed“ when using such tools in healthcare, the organization states.
This means that a chatbot can help explain a medical term, but should not determine a diagnosis, treatment or dosage. Similarly, an investment response is not equivalent to professional advice and does not transfer the risk of loss to the platform.
Emotional support and official data
A chatbot can respond empathetically, but is not a substitute for a qualified specialist or a real person in a mental crisis. Such a conversation does not provide a medical assessment and may direct the user to an inappropriate or dangerous solution.
A separate risk is the introduction of internal contracts, personal data, trade secrets and program code into an external platform. This does not automatically mean that the information will become public, but it may be processed, stored, or accessed depending on the settings and conditions of the specific service.
The main risk
The more rights and sensitive data are provided to an AI system, the greater the consequences of its error or misuse.
Sources: plovdiv24.bg