Start HereLesson 3 of 3
In this lesson
What You'll Learn
- Which personal details never belong in a chat, and which are fine to share
- How to spot an answer that sounds right but isn't, and how to check it
- Three more habits that keep your name, your accounts, and your art safe
Why It Matters
ChatGPT is helpful, fast, and confident. That last part is the catch. It writes wrong answers in the same calm, polished tone as right ones, and it will happily work with whatever you paste in, including things you’d never want a stranger to read.
None of this is a reason to avoid it. It’s a reason to build a few habits now, before you start trusting it with your calendar, your buyer emails, and your artist statement. These five habits take no extra time once they’re second nature.
Lessons in this module
0 of 3 lessons complete
- Not started1. Create Your ChatGPT Account and Choose a Plan10 min
- Not started2. A Guided Tour of the ChatGPT Screen8 min
- Not started3. Smart and Safe AI Habits
Habit 1
Keep Private Details Out of Your Chats
A simple test: if you wouldn’t write it on a postcard, don’t type it into ChatGPT.
Never share
- Passwords and security codes
- Bank, credit card, or account numbers
- Social Security or driver's license numbers
- Your home address or your children's schools
- Medical details or other people's private information
Fine to share
- Your first name and the kind of art you make
- Your prices, sizes, and titles
- Days and times, like "soccer practice Tuesdays at 5"
- Photos of your finished paintings
- Kids' first names or nicknames, like "my oldest"
If you paste in an email or a school flyer, delete the account numbers, addresses, and phone numbers first. ChatGPT only needs the dates and details that matter to your question.
Copy-ready prompt
Ask the general version
When a question involves private details, leave them out and use this instead.
Step 1: Fill in the blanks
Step 2: Check your finished prompt
I need help with [Your question, with personal details left out].
I've left out private details like names, account numbers, and addresses on purpose. Give me general, step-by-step guidance I can apply myself, and tell me which details I'll need to fill in on my own.
Step 3: Copy it and paste it into ChatGPT
Your answers are saved on this device only, so you do not have to retype them in later lessons.
Habit 2
Double-Check Anything That Matters
ChatGPT doesn’t look things up the way a person does. It predicts what a good answer should sound like. Most of the time that works well, but now and then it fills a gap with something that sounds right and simply isn’t: a made-up date, a wrong price, or a rule that doesn’t exist.
Be extra careful with these:
- Dates, deadlines, and times
- Prices, fees, and sales tax
- Laws, contracts, and insurance
- Anything about health or medicine
- Names, phone numbers, and web addresses
How to check: go to the source. For a show deadline, open the gallery’s call for entry. For a school event, look at the school calendar. For tax or legal questions, ask the office that handles them. You can also ask ChatGPT, “How sure are you about that, and how can I confirm it?” It will often point out its own weak spots, and the prompt below makes that a one-tap habit.
Copy-ready prompt
Make a draft sound like you
Use this any time ChatGPT writes something that will go out under your name.
Step 1: Fill in the blanks
Step 2: Check your finished prompt
Please revise the draft below so it sounds like me, not like a computer.
About my voice: [How you normally sound, like warm and casual or polished and professional]
Words or phrases I never use: [Words that don't sound like you]
Keep it about the same length. Don't add any facts, dates, or prices that aren't already in the draft.
Draft:
[Paste the draft here]
Step 3: Copy it and paste it into ChatGPT
Your answers are saved on this device only, so you do not have to retype them in later lessons.
Habits 3, 4, and 5
Protect Your Name, Your Accounts, and Your Art
3. You're the editor
Read every email, post, and message before it goes out under your name. Change anything that doesn't sound like you. ChatGPT writes the first draft; you have the final say.
4. Watch for look-alikes
Only sign in at chatgpt.com or the official app from OpenAI. Be wary of emails or texts asking you to "verify" your ChatGPT account through a link. Go to the site yourself instead.
5. Your art stays yours
Use AI for the words around your art, never to pass off AI-made images as your own work. If a buyer asks how a piece was made, give an honest answer. Your reputation is worth more than any shortcut.
Try it now
Your Fact-Check Helper
Keep this prompt handy. Any time ChatGPT gives you an answer you plan to act on, paste that answer into the box below, copy the prompt, and send it back to ChatGPT in the same chat.
Copy-ready prompt
Check before you trust
Tip: press and hold (or right-click) inside the box to paste.
Step 1: Fill in the blanks
Step 2: Check your finished prompt
Before I rely on this, please review the answer below.
1. List any facts, dates, prices, or rules in it that could be wrong or out of date.
2. For each one, tell me exactly where I could confirm it myself.
3. Rate how confident you are in the answer overall: high, medium, or low, and why.
The answer to check:
[Paste the answer you want to check]
Step 3: Copy it and paste it into ChatGPT
Your answers are saved on this device only, so you do not have to retype them in later lessons.
Check your work
What You Should See
Say ChatGPT told you a juried show’s entry deadline is October 15. After you run the fact-check helper, you should get something like this:
1. Could be wrong: the October 15 deadline and the $35 entry fee. Shows change these every year.
2. Where to confirm: the gallery’s official call for entry page, or call the gallery directly.
3. Confidence: low. I don’t have this year’s announcement, so treat both numbers as guesses until you check.
A “low” or “medium” rating is your cue to check the source before you act.
Quick fixes
If Something Goes Wrong
You pasted something private by accident? Delete that chat: open it, tap the chat’s menu (three dots), and choose Delete. Then change any password or account number you shared.
ChatGPT says everything is correct? Ask it the direct question anyway: “What’s the one thing here most likely to be wrong?”
You got a suspicious email about your ChatGPT account? Don’t click its links. Open chatgpt.com yourself and check your account there.
Not sure whether something is too private? Leave it out. ChatGPT can almost always help with the general version of your question.
Your action this week
Run One Answer Through the Fact-Check Helper
Ask ChatGPT a practical question about your week, then send its answer through the fact-check helper and see what it flags. When you’re done, mark this lesson complete. That finishes Start Here. Next up is Module 1, where ChatGPT starts giving you back real time in your week.
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