Cartoon Nick got a screenshot from a client last month. It was a ChatGPT conversation. It contained a customer's full name, address, phone number, and the last four of a card. The client was asking for help writing a refund email.
The email was fine. The habit is not. Here is the line, and the new tools that make it easier to stay behind it.
AI at Work Tip #77: The never-paste list
Print this. Tape it near the monitor.
NEVER PASTE INTO AN AI CHAT
- Customer names paired with contact details, addresses, or payment info
- Passwords, API keys, login links, or recovery codes
- Full contracts with the other party's private terms (summarize the clause instead)
- Medical, legal, or financial details about a specific identifiable person
- Employee HR matters with names attached
- Anything you would not want read aloud in the lobby
INSTEAD: replace names with [Customer], strip numbers, paste only the paragraph you need help with.The model does not need to know it was Maria on Sycamore Street to help you write a good refund email. "[Customer] asked for a refund on a $240 service after a missed appointment" gets you the same email.
AI at Work Tip #78: Keep sensitive work on your own machine
Two options landed this month that make this practical. Perplexity Hybrid Compute (September 1) runs private tasks locally on Apple silicon Macs, so file reading and sensitive processing never leave the device. It is included in Pro, Max, and Enterprise plans. And the new wave of open-weight models (GLM-5.3 Flash, Qwen 3.8 Flash) can run on a decent desktop through open source tools like Ollama or LM Studio for tasks like summarizing client documents.
Cartoon Nick's split: anything with a client's private data goes to a local or hybrid model. Anything public-facing (marketing, blog drafts, research) goes to the cloud model, because it is better and there is nothing to protect.
What's hot right now
The trend reports for September are unanimous that data sovereignty is the reason open-weight models are winning in regulated industries. If you serve medical, legal, or financial clients, expect them to start asking where your AI runs. Having an answer is a sales advantage.
Where your web guy fits in
The same rule applies to your website's contact forms, chat widgets, and analytics. A lot of small business sites pipe form submissions through three third-party tools nobody remembers signing up for. Part of every site audit at webguynick.com is a data map: where does a customer's information go after they hit submit. The answer is usually surprising.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to paste customer information into ChatGPT?
No. Strip names, contact details, and payment info before you paste, and use a local or hybrid model for anything sensitive.
What is Perplexity Hybrid Compute?
A feature that runs private tasks locally on Apple silicon Macs so sensitive data stays on your device.
