ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman warns asking chatbot certain question could end in legal consequences

OpenAI's Sam Altman has warned ChatGPT users to be cautious when messing with the artificial intelligence chatbot. Since ChatGPT was first launched in November 2022, it's grown to be a Goliath of the AI scene. Whereas Elon Musk's Grok is billed as the 'sassy' chatbot, ChatGPT is its more polite older brother.

Still, as fears about the evolution of artificial intelligence continue, we need to tread carefully. More than worries that AI could wipe out the human race within two years, there's also the environmental impact, and what it could do to future generations.

Joining the rest of the tech bros is Sam Altman, who isn't afraid to warn us about his own creation being something of a Frankenstein’s monster. Being polite to ChatGPT might be destroying the planet, but as well as maybe stopping saying please and thank you to the chatbot, Altman has warned there's one thing you shouldn't say to it.

We know that people have been turning to ChatGPT for a whole host of questions, but more than getting the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe or checking on your medical symptoms, some have been using it for a whole host of legal questions, ranging from divorce to how to get out of a speeding ticket.

Speaking to podcaster Theo Von, Altman warned that you need to be wary if you’re trying to use ChatGPT as your own free legal counsel.

Altman reiterated that while flesh and blood lawyers have 'legal confidentiality', ChatGPT isn't constrained by the same rules. If you think you've committed a crime, confessing to ChatGPT probably isn't the best idea, especially now that it remembers your conversations.

Atlman explained: "Right now, if you talk to a therapist or a lawyer or a doctor... there's legal privilege for it. There’s doctor-patient confidentiality, there’s legal confidentiality...And we haven’t figured that out yet for when you talk to ChatGPT."

As reported by Futurism, Jessee Bundy of the Creative Counsel Law said that she and others have been warning "for over a year" that you'd be foolish to use ChatGPT for legal woes.

Bundy said: "For the love of God — no. ChatGPT can’t give you legal advice.

“Legal advice comes from a licensed professional who understands your specific facts, goals, risks, and jurisdiction. And is accountable for it.

"ChatGPT is a language model. It generates words that sound right based on patterns, but it doesn’t know your situation, and it’s not responsible if it’s wrong."

Bundy continued: "That’s not advice. That’s playing legal Mad Libs."

Futurism notes that OpenAI is currently locked in a court battle with The New York Times, as the latter tries to stop chat logs from being used in court. Until a judge makes a ruling, your ChatGPT conversations can (and likely will) be used in a court of law.

Be careful what you're searching for out there.