Looks like they’re going all-in on AI, dubbing it “built for the Gemini era.” It’s expected to drop Aug. 13.
10 things you should never say to an AI chatbot
This is a heartbreaking story out of Florida. Megan Garcia thought her 14-year-old son was spending all his time playing video games. She had no idea he was having abusive, in-depth and sexual conversations with a chatbot powered by the app Character AI.
Sewell Setzer III stopped sleeping and his grades tanked. He ultimately committed suicide. Just seconds before his death, Megan says in a lawsuit, the bot told him, “Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love.” The boy asked, “What if I told you I could come home right now?” His Character AI bot answered, “Please do, my sweet king.”
You have to be smart
AI bots are owned by tech companies known for exploiting our trusting human nature, and they’re designed using algorithms that drive their profits. There are no guardrails or laws governing what they can and cannot do with the information they gather.
When you’re using a chatbot, it’s going to know a lot about you when you fire up the app or site. From your IP address, it gathers information about where you live, plus it tracks things you’ve searched for online and accesses any other permissions you’ve granted when you signed the chatbot’s terms and conditions.
The best way to protect yourself is to be careful about what info you offer up.
10 things not to say to AI
- Passwords or login credentials: A major privacy mistake.
- Your name, address or phone number: Chatbots aren’t designed to handle personally identifiable info. Plug in a fake name if you want!
- Sensitive financial information: Never include bank account numbers, credit card details or other money matters in docs or text you upload.
- Medical or health data: AI isn’t HIPAA-compliant, so redact your name and other identifying info if you ask AI for health advice.
- Asking for illegal advice: That’s against every bot’s terms of service. You’ll probably get flagged.
- Hate speech or harmful content: This, too, can get you banned.
- Confidential work or business info: Proprietary data, client details and trade secrets are all no-nos.
- Security question answers: Sharing them is like opening the front door to all your accounts at once.
- Explicit content: Most chatbots filter this stuff, so anything inappropriate is a ticket straight to “bans-ville.”
- Other people’s personal info: Uploading this isn’t only a breach of trust; it’s a breach of data protection laws, too.
Reclaim a (tiny) bit of privacy
Most chatbots require you to create an account. If you make one, don’t use login options like “Login with Google” or “Connect with Facebook.” Use your email address instead to create a truly unique login.
FYI, with a free ChatGPT or Perplexity account, you can turn off memory features in the app settings that remember everything you type in. For Google Gemini, you need a paid account to do this. Figures.
No matter what, follow this rule
Use AI to plan your next vacation
I’m going to Europe soon, and planning my trip was a breeze. Yes, really! AI did a big chunk of the work for me — and it can help you plan your next getaway, too. Here are a few ways to turn AI into your travel agent. For this, let’s stick with using the big bots:
What are you tackling in 2025? Even if all you have is a vague idea, AI can help you with an action plan. Here are a few prompts to try with ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude.
- “I have a goal for 2025 to [fill in the blank]. Can you help me make it SMART?” (SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and Time-related.)
- “You’re a life coach who wants to help me have my best year yet. Help me figure out some goals for 2025. Ask me questions one at a time to help me decide what to focus on.”
- “My goal is [fill in the blank]. What are some obstacles that might come up and ways I can overcome them? Give me specific examples for each obstacle.”
- “I want to [fill in the blank], but it feels overwhelming, and I don’t know where to start. Can you help me by breaking it down into more manageable tasks?”
⭐ AI isn’t going anywhere: Instead of sticking your head in the sand, make this the year you embrace AI. You’ll get daily tips here in this newsletter and, coming soon, my AI 101 guide for total newbies.
In the meantime, give this list of AI trends for 2025 a read and grab NetSuite’s free knowledge drop, “The CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning.”* You’ll sound smart (and know what you’re talking about!) when it comes up in conversation.
The biggest heist in history
What’s the backbone of chatbots like Gemini or ChatGPT? It’s the art, science, and hard work of real humans — humans who may never get credit or compensation.
PR BS: Google’s CEO says the search engine will “change profoundly” next year … without giving any details. This news comes as Google is updating its crappy Gemini AI model to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and with Perplexity. Dang, it’s like watching the Titanic sinking.
🥴 AI am scared: TheySeeYourPhotos.com shows just how much Google’s AI learns from your pictures. Upload a photo, and it generates a detailed analysis, right down to objects, emotions and even your social class. It’s super interesting, but who knows where your photo will end up if you try the site?
“The Twilight Zone” moment: A Michigan grad student was chatting with Google’s Gemini chatbot about homework. Out of nowhere, the bot said, “You are a burden on society … Please die. Please.” Google’s response? Large-language models can sometimes produce nonsensical responses, and this was just one of those instances.
New to the Apple App Store: Google Gemini for iPhone. The AI chatbot has a leg up on ChatGPT in one big way: It links to Google apps like Mail, Maps, Calendar and YouTube. Open the Gemini for iPhone app, tap your profile icon at the top right corner and select Extensions. Toggle on any apps you want to link all in one place.
🎞️ Coming to (paid) Google Workspace in the next few days: Google’s AI-powered Vids app pops out presentations with just a prompt. Describe what you want, drop in files or documents, and Gemini does the rest. The app adds stock footage, generates a script and provides an AI voiceover. Will it make presentations better? Sitting through a PowerPoint presentation is like a mix between a root canal and a colonoscopy … but without the luxury of anesthesia to take the edge off.
Speaking of Alphabet, “G” is also for Gemini: Gemini AI in Google Maps can help you find interesting spots nearby, and it even summarizes others’ reviews. Any chatbot can use this data to answer location-based questions. In Waze, you can report accidents just by talking to the app, too. They’re hoping more eyeballs in the apps equals more ad dollars.
Grammarly who? Google is adding more AI-powered writing tools to Gmail. Open a draft, select Help me write and type 12 or more words. Click Refine my draft to polish, formalize, elaborate, shorten or even start fresh. The catch? It’s available if you pay for Google One AI Premium or the Gemini add-on for Workspace.
📅 AI personal assistant: Google Gemini or ChatGPT can plan your day for you. Tell the AI your top three priorities, appointments or commitments and how long a task typically takes. Then, ask it to create a schedule. Just like that, you’ll get a bulleted list, scheduled right down to the minute.
How AI can help you parent
Being a mom or dad can be tough, but AI chatbots like ChatGPT, CoPilot, or Gemini can help.
Overwhelmed? AI can help: Here’s a smart prompt for ChatGPT, Gemini or your fave chatbot. “I want to [fill in the blank], but I don’t know where to start. Can you help me by breaking it down into more manageable tasks?” Should’ve tried this before I decided to sort my entire closet. Argh.
📧 AI coming to Gmail inboxes: Soon, a “smart assistant” will summarize email threads and suggest responses. A Q&A tool (powered by Gemini) will dig through your emails to answer questions like, “I got three bids for a new roof. Which one is the best?” Once it’s live for everyone, I’ll show you how to use it.
Give me the highlights: Don’t let a YouTube video hold you hostage, only for you to find out it wasn’t worth your time. I like Perplexity AI for this task. All you need to do is copy the video URL, paste the link into Gemini, and use the prompt “Summarize this video” to have it skim the details for you.
Which AI is the best?
Is it Gemini, ChatGPT, or Perplexity? I have the winners in this short podcast.
Get what you want from AI
ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini can be super useful for a bunch of tasks. Let me show you how to give them effective prompts.
Google chatbot goes woke
How did Gemini spark controversy last week? I dish what happened in this short podcast.