This is the second in a monthly cybersecurity education series submitted to the chamber as a community service by CMIT Solutions of Wyoming, a fellow chamber member. Each month, we break down a cybersecurity topic in plain language — no tech background required — so fellow members can put practical guidance to use right away.
Chances are, someone at your business is already using an AI chatbot. Maybe it's you, drafting a customer email in half the time. Maybe it's an employee summarizing a long contract, cleaning up a spreadsheet, or brainstorming marketing ideas. These tools are fast, helpful, and easy to use, and that's exactly why they deserve a little thought before they become a habit.
Generative AI is software that produces text that sounds like a person wrote it, usually through a chatbot where you type a question and get a conversational answer. These tools learn from enormous amounts of written material and adjust their responses based on the context and the information you give them. That last part is the important one: the more you tell a chatbot, the better its answer tends to be, which makes it tempting to paste in just about anything.
You don't need to avoid AI. You do need a few ground rules. Here are the three that matter most.
The safest habit is to assume that anything you type into a chatbot could be stored somewhere you don't control, until you've confirmed otherwise. Take a few minutes to read how the tool handles your data, check the privacy settings, and find out whether you can opt out of having your conversations used for training. If you can't find a clear answer, treat the tool as public.
company-approved tool has presumably been looked at for security, privacy, and how it handles your data. A personal account on a different chatbot has not, even if it looks identical on the screen.
Chances are, someone at your business is already using an AI chatbot. Maybe it's you, drafting a customer email in half the time. Maybe it's an employee summarizing a long contract, cleaning up a spreadsheet, or brainstorming marketing ideas. These tools are fast, helpful, and easy to use, and that's exactly why they deserve a little thought before they become a habit.
Generative AI is software that produces text that sounds like a person wrote it, usually through a chatbot where you type a question and get a conversational answer. These tools learn from enormous amounts of written material and adjust their responses based on the context and the information you give them. That last part is the important one: the more you tell a chatbot, the better its answer tends to be, which makes it tempting to paste in just about anything.
You don't need to avoid AI. You do need a few ground rules. Here are the three that matter most.
Confidentiality Defaults
Not every chatbot treats your information the same way. Some tools keep what you type private to your account. Others may store your conversations, review them, or use them to improve the product, depending on the service, the plan you're on, and the settings you've chosen. Free, consumer-grade tools often have very different terms than paid business versions.The safest habit is to assume that anything you type into a chatbot could be stored somewhere you don't control, until you've confirmed otherwise. Take a few minutes to read how the tool handles your data, check the privacy settings, and find out whether you can opt out of having your conversations used for training. If you can't find a clear answer, treat the tool as public.
Workplace Approval
If your business has chosen an AI tool, that's the one to use. A company-provided orcompany-approved tool has presumably been looked at for security, privacy, and how it handles your data. A personal account on a different chatbot has not, even if it looks identical on the screen.
If you're an owner or manager and haven't picked a tool yet, that's worth doing now. Employees who find AI helpful will use it whether or not there's a policy, and without guidance they'll choose whichever tool they happen to like. A short, plain-English policy goes a long way: which tools are approved, what they can be used for, and who to ask when something isn't clear. One page is plenty.
Keep it Secret
The most important question to ask before you paste anything into a chatbot is: should this leave our walls at all? Know which information in your organization must stay private, and treat those categories as off limits.As a starting point, keep these out of public or unapproved AI tools:
- Customer or employee personal information, such as names paired with addresses, Social Security numbers, or dates of birth
- Financial details, including bank account numbers, payroll data, and non-public financial results
- Passwords, login credentials, and security configurations
- Health information, if your business handles it
- Contracts, legal matters, trade secrets, and anything covered by a confidentiality agreement
Building the Habit
AI is one more tool, and like any tool, it works best when people know the rules. Check how your chatbot handles your data, use the tools your business has approved, and think twice before sharing anything you wouldn't post on a public bulletin board. If you pause before you paste, you'll get nearly all of the benefit with very little of the risk.Next month, we'll cover another cybersecurity topic in plain language. In the meantime, if you have a question you'd like to see answered in this series, let us know.
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This article is provided as a free community service by CMIT Solutions of Wyoming, a proud member of the chamber. We work with local businesses on cybersecurity, IT support, and compliance, and we're glad to share this monthly series to help our fellow members stay safer online.
CMIT Solutions of Wyoming
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Steve Hendrickson Managing Principal
- October 26, 2026
- (307) 215-8800
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