Is your data safe with Google’s generative AI? Here’s what you need to know

In a recent blog post on The Keyword, Google shared its ongoing commitment to safeguarding user privacy. Because it’s now injecting generative artificial intelligence into practically all of its products and services, and is headed full-tilt into the future it’s creating for itself with what it’s calling “Workspace Duet AI”, I imagine a lot of you have larger concerns than before about how the company will use your data.

For nearly 25 years, the tech giant has prided itself on building secure products that put you in control of your data, but my confidence, as well as yours, has waned much over the past handful of those years. and Google’s public image has changed drastically. I imagine this post it put out is intentionally and perfectly timed to address some of those fears, and while it’s really just a recap of its policies, it’s still good to discuss here with you all!

Google’s commitment to your privacy

According to Google, your data won’t be shared with others without explicit permission. This applies to all Workspace tools, including Gmail and Google Docs. What’s more, you still own your data – the company pledges not to sell it, and users can remove or export it at any time using Google Takeout (something I advocate for periodically anyway!)

Regarding AI, there might be some unease about intelligent systems accessing personal data, but the company assures that Workspace data won’t be used to enhance their Duet AI. Any interaction with it, like using its “Help me write” tool or getting AI-driven spelling and grammar suggestions, is either anonymized or aggregated – meaning it’s disconnected from any of your personal identifiers. We spoke last week about how grammar fixes would remain on Google’s servers for up to six months.

For those concerned about targeted ads, myself included, the tech giant maintains it won’t use personal or business content in Workspace for advertising. According to Vice President of Product Management and Workspace Yulie Kwon Kim, your data isn’t being scanned for ad creation purposes.

As an additional layer of reassurance, the company’s data privacy and protection practices have been vetted by independent auditors. These third-party checks confirm alignment with international data privacy and protection standards, which is really the only thing that puts my mind at ease even a bit. I’m going to be honest and say that out of all of the companies diving head first into AI tools and technology, Google has been the one that I trust the least.

My personal thoughts and unease over Duet AI

According to OpenAI and others, the big G is the one promising to be cautious, but moving entirely too fast and in a hap hazardous manner. While I’d like to believe that it’s being cautious, AI is really something you don’t take chances with, and this is all happening so quickly that it’s hard to believe there are enough guardrails.

I’ve been quiet about my unease for some time now, and I’m just opening up today to be blunt about how strange all of this feels to me. I feel like everyone will trust Google with AI, and then something massive will happen and it will be too late to roll back the clock. Anyone who knows anything about artificial intelligence will tell you that it’s like playing with fire.

With that being said, I don’t want to end on a depressing note. It’s good that Google is reiterating its commitment to users, and that it’s outlined all that it plans to do to keep the walls up. More importantly, the more independent and third-party auditors that can be involved with the process of generative AI in Google’s tools, the better. Checks and balances are always a good thing, and even if you trust someone, it’s good to have an unbiased party spectating and mediating from outside, and this is no different.

let me know in the comments what you think about all of this and if you’re currently using (and plan to continue using) AI tools like Duet AI from Google. I’m not about to become resistant to change, and I fully embrace the idea of AI and its ability to make the world a better place, but I do think we should continue to hold Google accountable, and not let our guard down.