AI Assistant and Secrets in Your Pocket

AI assistants are great until you bring into a chat something that should not be there. And code with secrets is exactly the kind of thing that looks harmless until you realize the chat is not a private notebook but a public square - just with nicer fonts.

Anything you send into a chat can be seen by more people. And if the assistant sees it, someone else can too. It is not paranoia; it is basic hygiene when handling sensitive things.

A small survival list

• Before you paste something into chat, ask whether you would send it in a group email.
• Mask secrets or replace them with fake values.
• If you are not sure, do not show it at all.

And yes, it all reminds me of hiding in a cave from a monster that knows exactly where you are. You crouch behind a stalagmite... and it is already waiting on the other side. Except instead of echoes you hear: "Could you please send that config one more time?"

So yes, AI assistants are great, but with secrets the old rule applies: what you send into chat is not just yours anymore.