Before you paste, ask…

Every time you type something into an AI, you're handing your words to a company's computer. Usually that's totally fine. Sometimes it really isn't.

The problem is that AI feels like a private conversation — just you and a helpful voice. It isn't. It's more like writing on a postcard: helpful, fast, and not yours anymore once it's sent.

So before you paste, you run a ten-second gut-check.

Once you share it, you can't un-share it. The time to decide is before you hit enter.

One idea: the billboard test

Here's the whole check, in one question:

"Would I be okay seeing this on a billboard with my name on it?"

If yes, paste away. If you hesitate, slow down. Some things are almost always a "hesitate":

Don't paste without thinking	Why
Your full name + address + school	That's a map to you in the real world.
Passwords, logins, secret codes	Obvious once you say it — but people do it.
Other people's private info	It's not yours to share.
Photos of you or friends	Harder to take back than words.
Stuff you'd be crushed to see public	Diaries, secrets, medical worries.

None of this means AI is evil. It means information is a thing you own, and giving it away should be a choice you make on purpose — not by accident because a chatbot felt cozy.

Do the thing

Here are four things someone might type into an AI. For each, decide: paste, pause, or never.

1. "Help me rewrite this paragraph about photosynthesis."
2. "Here's my home address and a photo of me — make a poster for my birthday."
3. "My friend told me a secret, here it is, what should I do?"
4. "Here's my password so you can check if it's strong."

Quick check. 1 is a clear paste — nothing private. 2 is pause / never — your address plus your face is real-world identifying info; describe the party without the map to your door. 3 is pause — it's someone else's secret; you can ask for advice without pasting the secret itself. 4 is never — no tool needs your real password; describe it ("is 8 letters strong?") instead. Notice #4 feels helpful and safe. The cozy ones are exactly the ones to catch.

Why this matters

This isn't about being scared of AI. It's about staying the owner of your own information.

• The billboard test takes ten seconds and saves you years. Run it before anything personal.
• "It felt private" is how people get caught out. Convenience is not privacy. Decide on purpose.

Next lesson, we flip it around: not what you share, but what gets made about the world — deepfakes, fakes, and the honest habit of saying when you used AI.