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Module 3 · 2:07

Shadow AI and Approved Tools

Why the free new AI tool is not free, and how to champion a tool the right way.

What to remember

  • Free AI tools are paid with your data: the fine print often lets your content train models and reach partners you never met, and your checkbox says yes for the whole company.
  • Small tools mean small security: a breach at a five-person vendor is your pasted data in a public dump, and your company cannot warn you about a tool it never knew existed.
  • A personal email does not hide a tool on a work laptop; it makes the invisibility false, and most companies can see which AI tools run on their network as normal hygiene.
  • Requesting a tool takes three lines (the tool, what you would use it for, what data would go in), and you get a yes or a safer alternative; the same three lines cover AI features that switch themselves on inside tools you already use.
  • Finding great tools is a valued instinct: be the scout who walks them through the front door.

Quick check

Three questions, instant feedback. Two right completes the module.

1.A "free forever" AI tool is free because:

2.You sign up for an unapproved AI tool with your personal email on your work laptop. What actually changes?

3.What goes in a request to get an AI tool approved?

Transcript
0:01
Found a great AI tool? Keep hunting. This is front door versus side door.
0:15
Free is a business model. Your prompts are the revenue.
0:28
The fine print: what you paste can become someone else's training data.
0:45
A small tool breached means your pasted data in a public dump, with no warning.
0:59
Most companies can see which AI tools run on the network. Normal hygiene.
1:07
A personal email does not make the tool invisible. It makes the invisibility false.
1:19
Three lines to IT. You get a yes, or a safer alternative.
1:37
Be the scout. Walk the tool through the front door.
1:51
Free is paid with data. Front door beats side door. Scouts are valued.
Keep going

Next up: When the Guardrail Catches You

The whole course is free and login-free. IT and security teams get the rollout kit with a quiz pack and an EU AI Act evidence checklist.

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