The 5 Things You Should Never Put Into an AI Tool

Getting started with AI is easier and safer than most people expect. But before you dive in, there is one simple principle worth knowing: treat any AI tool the way you would treat a public forum. If you would not post something online for anyone to read, do not type it into an AI tool. That one rule covers most situations. But it helps to know what it looks like in practice.

The first thing to keep out is your clients' personal information. Names, email addresses, phone numbers, financial details, medical history, whatever your clients have shared with you in confidence. That information belongs to them. Pasting it into an AI tool is not worth the risk, regardless of how helpful the tool might be. Protect their trust by keeping their details out of it entirely.

Second, leave out any passwords or login credentials. This one sounds obvious, but it comes up more often than you might think. If someone is asking an AI to help draft a technical process or set up instructions, they sometimes include real passwords in the example. Do not. There is no task that requires your real credentials to get useful help from an AI.

Third, keep your most sensitive financial information private. Specific revenue figures, profit margins, bank details, tax information. You can ask AI to help with financial writing or planning without including your actual numbers. Use estimates, round figures, or placeholder amounts and the output will be just as useful.

Fourth, never share employee personal information. Salaries, performance reviews, personal circumstances, anything from HR conversations. These details are confidential by nature and should stay that way. You can get excellent help writing a difficult email or working through a people situation without naming anyone or including their actual details.

Fifth, be careful with confidential contracts and legal documents. Specific deal terms, client agreements, proprietary processes. If it is the kind of document you would only share under a formal agreement, do not paste the real thing into an AI. You can describe the situation in general terms and still get genuinely useful help.

None of this should put you off getting started. The vast majority of what businesses use AI for every day, writing emails, summarizing meeting notes, drafting proposals, creating content, is completely safe and incredibly useful. The people who get the most out of AI are simply the ones who know where the lines are and work confidently within them.

Starting safely is easy. And the opportunity is very real.

Promptly helps businesses start using AI with confidence, with practical guidance from people who have done the work. Book a free Discovery Call and see what that looks like for you.

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