{"id":13492,"date":"2026-10-21T09:13:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T14:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/blog\/?p=13492"},"modified":"2026-10-21T09:13:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T14:13:14","slug":"ai-risks-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/blog\/ai-risks-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"When AI Takes Action: The Risks You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shall we Chat?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AI, which has been around for more than 30 years, but changed significantly in 2025 when it began moving beyond giving answers to performing actions. Those actions often leave a trail of detritus behind.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How so? Let\u2019s take a look at Anthropic\u2019s warning about its\u2019 AI product Claude Cowork.\u00a0 Anthropic cautions that Cowork can overwrite and permanently delete local files. Imagine having the only draft of a book you are writing suddenly vanish from your electronic files. Even worse, you may not be able to later reconstruct what happened. Anthropic states that Cowork activity is not captured in Audit Logs, the Compliance API, or Data Exports.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The dangers go further. Depending on the access you have given it, Cowork could read a malicious email you received and act upon it, such as downloading malware to your computer or transferring money from your bank account to a scammer. That\u2019s not good.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We have all had to learn new terms to describe catastrophic outcomes from AI usage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AI Terms You Need to Know<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

False Completion<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cFalse completion\u201d means the system gives you a false report that it has completed a task. Suppose you instruct the AI agent to prepare a spreadsheet that compiles information from source documents, but the AI agent in reality skips every other page. The resulting spreadsheet would be wrong.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hallucination<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cHallucination\u201d is a made-up result, such as citing a law that does not exist. Plenty of lawyers have been sanctioned for including hallucinated law in their pleadings and briefs. It\u2019s clear that <\/span>AI can produce false legal information<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prompt Injection<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cPrompt injection\u201d is when an attacker uses inputs that manipulate the AI agent to ignore its original developer instructions and execute malicious actions. This is the danger that makes headlines when it goes wrong.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a lot of AI agents, each with their own strengths and vulnerabilities. Of the more popular ones, <\/span>ChatGPT<\/span><\/a> is often recommended for its everyday answers, reasoning, deep research and image generation, Claude gets the nod for writing and coding, Gemini has good reviews for video generation and live camera, and Perplexity is noted for its web search capability.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Paid vs. Free Subscription<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Generally, a paid subscription to these services will get you a better result and come with more safeguards. For example, OpenAI states that it does not train on data submitted through paid subscriptions to ChatGPT Business and Chat GPT Enterprise.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you use any type of device \u2014 cell phone, computer, tablet \u2014 then chances are very good that you are using at least one of these agents, paid or unpaid. If so, then you need to practice safe AI.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How to Use AI More Safely<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Choose Your Permission<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

When giving instructions, start with the narrowest permission available. Use non-executing modes like read-only or plan. When you are ready to allow the system to take affirmative acts such as writing, deleting, scheduling, or acting, keep the resulting work in segregated folders.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Share Sensitive Information<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Preserve your native files and pre-run versions. Don\u2019t place sensitive information into your projects unless you have read and understood the product\u2019s disclaimers and warnings, and you are ready to accept the risks.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep a List of Sources<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

If you are using an AI agent to do something important, then keep a list of sources the system accessed, the instructions that you gave, and whether any files were modified or excluded. You never know when you will have to defend the agent\u2019s output.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Be Skeptical<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Be skeptical of any result that an AI agent generates. Verify and double-check.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If Generative AI seems confusing, that is because it is. Remember that Socrates once said, \u201cThe only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.\u201d AI is making all of us wise.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Have Questions About AI and the Law?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

AI tools can be useful, but their answers may be incomplete or wrong, especially when you\u2019re dealing with an important legal question. If you need guidance on estate planning, probate, guardianship, or litigation, <\/span>schedule a consultation<\/span><\/a> with the <\/span>attorneys at Hammerle Morris<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Virginia Hammerle<\/span><\/i><\/a> is an accredited estate planner whose practice includes <\/span><\/i>estate planning<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span><\/i>probate<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span><\/i>guardianship<\/span><\/i><\/a>, and <\/span><\/i>litigation<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shall we Chat?\u00a0\u00a0 AI, which has been around for more than 30 years, but changed significantly in 2025 when it began moving beyond giving answers to performing actions. Those actions often leave a trail of detritus behind.\u00a0 How so? Let\u2019s take a look at Anthropic\u2019s warning about its\u2019 AI product Claude Cowork.\u00a0 Anthropic cautions that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":13493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-legal-talk"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen AI Takes Action: The Risks You Need to Know - Hammerle Morris Law Firm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about AI agent risks, including false completion, hallucinations, and prompt injection, plus practical steps for using AI more safely.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/blog\/ai-risks-you-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When AI Takes Action: The Risks You Need to Know - 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