Apple has taken the lead among tech giants by banning the use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot. According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple is concerned that these tools could potentially leak confidential data or proprietary code to third-party developers.
Generative AI tools are computer programs that can create unique content such as text, images, music, and code using data from users or external sources. They are trained to analyze vast amounts of data and generate a result that is relevant to the input. Popular examples of generative AI services include OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot, and others.
Apple has sent out a memo to its employees, according to The Wall Street Journal, informing them of the ban of these tools due to security and privacy risk. They are worried that these services could send back user conversations or code snippets to the developer without user consent or knowledge. For instance, Apple is worried that GitHub Copilot could intercept proprietary code and reveal what the company is working on or copy its own products.
Samsung, JPMorgan Chase and Verizon have also prohibited employees from using ChatGPT while Amazon has reportedly warned its staff about using these tools. In March, Apple blocked an update for BlueMail, an email app that wanted to add ChatGPT functionality, because it deemed the potentially age-inappropriate AI content without filters. Blix, the company behind the app, was then asked to either add content filtering or make BlueMail age-restricted to 17 or older.
Apple is no stranger to concerns around privacy and security. The company has long been devoted to protecting its user’s information and code and is now taking caution against any potential threats posed by generative AI technologies.
GitHub Copilot is an AI powered product designed and developed by Microsoft to help developers build better in GitHub. It provides a range of features such as code reviews, issue tracking, and bug resolution. The product is part of Microsoft’s larger GitHub platform and was first released in 2020.
ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot created by OpenAI, a San Francisco based AI research lab founded by Elon Musk and others. The chatbot leverages natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to provide engaging and interactive conversations with users. It is designed to be more natural and human-like and can be used for customer support, marketing, and other use cases.
