Safe AI use
What not to paste into AI at work.
The first AI skill for office workers is not clever prompting. It is knowing what should stay out of the prompt box.
Short answer
Do not paste anything you would not be allowed to share outside work.
If the tool, policy, and data boundary are unclear, treat the AI tool like an external service and remove real names, private details, financials, contracts, and sensitive internal context.
Safer habit
Ask for help with the pattern, not the private details.
AI can often improve structure, tone, questions, and checklists without seeing the real customer, employee, project, or contract.
Remove these before using AI.
Personal data
- Customer names and contact details.
- Employee information or HR notes.
- Health, identity, payroll, or private messages.
Commercial data
- Contracts and pricing.
- Internal strategy or unreleased plans.
- Financial results, forecasts, or board material.
Security data
- Passwords or API keys.
- System access details.
- Incident, risk, or vulnerability information.
Policy-sensitive work
- Legal advice or disputes.
- Procurement, hiring, or performance decisions.
- Anything your workplace has not approved for AI use.
A safer version of the same prompt.
# ROLE
You are helping me improve the structure of a workplace message.
# SAFE CONTEXT
I will describe the type of situation without real names, private data, customer details, or confidential numbers.
# TASK
Help me make this message clearer, calmer, and easier to act on.
# INPUT
[paste a sanitised version of the message or describe the situation in general terms]
# RULES
- Do not add facts.
- Do not invent details.
- Ask me what information is missing.
- Keep the tone professional.
- Flag any risk I should check with a human.