Using AI Tools in My Practice

What You Should Know About Privacy & Your Information

Some of you have been asking about AI tools — what they are, whether I use them, and whether your information is safe. These are exactly the right questions to ask, and I want to be straightforward with you.

I do occasionally use an AI assistant called Claude (made by a company called Anthropic) to help with things like drafting written materials and preparing documents. I am careful about how I use it, and I want you to understand what that means for you.

The Short Version

Your private session information is never entered into any AI tool. What I may use AI for is general writing assistance — not anything related to your personal work with me.

What Recently Came to Light

You may have seen news about a lawsuit involving Anthropic (the company that makes Claude). Here is what actually happened, in plain language:

  • A group of authors sued Anthropic, claiming the company used pirated copies of their books to train its AI — meaning to teach it how language works.

  • The court agreed that downloading pirated books was wrong. The case settled for $1.5 billion, and Anthropic agreed to destroy all pirated material.

  • Importantly, the lawsuit was about how the AI was originally built — not about handing one user's information to another user. That is simply not how these tools work.

  • The court also ruled that the actual training process — using books to teach the AI — was legal (called "fair use"). The problem was specifically the pirated source material.

What Happens to Conversations with Claude

In 2025, Anthropic changed its privacy policy. Here is what that means:

  • Users can choose whether their conversations are used to help improve Claude's AI training. This is optional — you can turn it off.

  • If training is turned off, conversations are deleted from Anthropic's systems within 30 days.

  • Anthropic does not sell user data to third parties.

  • There is also an "Incognito" mode that ensures conversations are never used for training at all, regardless of other settings.

How I Use These Tools

When I use Claude in my practice, I follow these guidelines:

  • I never enter your name, personal details, or anything from our sessions into any AI tool.

  • I use Incognito mode when working on sensitive written material, which means those conversations are not saved or used for training.

  • I have turned off the data training setting in my account settings.

  • I treat AI as an assistant for general tasks — not as a place to store or process anything private.

Your Copyright & Your Writing

If you are a writer and have used AI tools yourself, you may be wondering whether your work is protected. Here is the reassuring truth:

  • Copyright law still applies. You own what you write. Sharing something with an AI tool does not transfer your ownership to anyone.

  • Your conversations are not visible to other users. Each person's chats are completely separate.

  • If you use Claude yourself and want to protect your creative writing, turn off the "Help improve Claude" toggle in Settings > Privacy, and use Incognito mode for anything sensitive.

Questions?

If you have questions about any of this, please ask me directly. I believe in being transparent about how I work — including the tools I use.

With care,

Bobbie Jonas