Phase 8: Traps, Judgment & Staying Current · 30 min · ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini (any)

What Never to Paste & When Not to Trust AI

Some things should never go into a prompt. Some decisions should never be outsourced to AI.

Hiring signal: What changes when you use this: you know when a 'good enough' AI answer isn't — and what never to paste into a prompt — which means you use AI safely in professional contexts.

What you will learn

Know what never to paste into a prompt (private data, credentials, client info)
Identify high-stakes situations where AI output should not be trusted without expert review
Understand the difference between low-stakes and high-stakes AI use
Build judgment about when AI is appropriate and when it isn't

The Problem

AI tools are incredibly useful, but they're not safe for everything. Some information should never go into a prompt. Some decisions should never be made based on AI output alone. Knowing the difference between "AI can help with this" and "AI should not touch this" is a critical judgment skill.

What Never to Paste Into a Prompt

Never paste	Why	What to do instead
Passwords and credentials	Could be stored, leaked, or used in training data	Never. Use environment variables or secret managers.
Social Security numbers	PII — privacy violation if exposed	Remove/redact before pasting any document containing PII
Client confidential information	Breach of NDA/contract	Anonymize: replace real names with [CLIENT A], remove identifying details
Medical records	HIPAA violation (US) / privacy violation (everywhere)	Never. Use anonymized descriptions only.
Financial account numbers	Fraud risk	Never. Describe the situation in general terms.
Source code with proprietary logic	IP leakage	Check your company's AI policy. Many prohibit pasting proprietary code.
Personal information about others	Privacy violation	Anonymize before pasting
Anything covered by an NDA	Contract breach	Check your NDA — most prohibit sharing with third-party services

The rule: If you wouldn't post it on a public forum, don't paste it into an AI tool. AI tools are third-party services. Your data may be stored, logged, or used in ways you don't control.

Unlock the full lesson

You've read the first 2 sections. The rest of this lesson covers How to Anonymize, When Not to Trust AI (High-Stakes Situations), The Stakes Framework, Your Practice Rep — plus a hands-on lab, quiz, and project artifact.

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