An AI (artificial intelligence) professor at the University of Oxford has warned against sharing private information or having "personal talks" with chatbots like ChatGPT.

Mike Wooldridge told audiences during his Royal Institution Christmas Lecture that it is not a good idea to divulge personal information to chatbots because it can make future versions smarter.

The professor stated chatbots will not typically give fair answers as they tend to tell the user what they want to hear.

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He told audiences that searching for feelings or a sense of understanding with AI is a waste of time.

The university boffin added that chatbots are not programmed for sympathy or empathy, but simply to say things that make the user happy.

Professor Wooldridge also warned that when typing a statement or question into ChatGPT, the user should assume the information will be used in future versions.

The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures began in 1825, with the aim of teaching young people about science.

It comes as an app has been launched using AI which could be “revolutionary” for patients with chronic lung conditions such as cystic fibrosis.

The technology of the Breathe RM app will be able to predict when a patient will fall ill up to 10 days in advance.

The technology can also predict when patients are likely to get a major infection – known as an exacerbation – which can lead to weeks in hospital.

It is being trialled at Royal Papworth Hospital with support from medical research charity LifeArc and and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Some 50 patients are involved in the year-long project, known as ACE-CF, with researchers hoping to recruit 400.

Breathe RM has been designed like a “to-do list”, collecting data that users should input daily.

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1