How AI works, what it is useful for, what to check, how to protect private information, and how to respond to AI-assisted scams.
01 AI software learns patterns from examples and uses those patterns to produce a result.
02 An answer can be clear, confident, and wrong.
03 A person should check any result that could affect someone's health, money, safety, work, or reputation.
AI is a broad name for computer software that can recognize patterns and use them to make a prediction or create something new. Chatbots, image generators, recommendation systems, and voice assistants are all examples.
One term you need
A model is the part of an AI system that has learned from examples. Training changes millions or billions of numbers inside the model until it becomes good at finding particular patterns. The finished model uses those learned numbers to turn something you provide into a result.
The technical name for using a trained model to produce a result is "inference."
01
First, the company trains the model using many examples. Later, you use the trained model by asking a question or giving it a file. A company may keep what you provide and use it as a future training example, but that is a separate decision.
02
The main AI system inside a chatbot is called a large language model. It repeatedly predicts which small piece of text should come next. Because it has learned many patterns in language, the finished reply can sound thoughtful even when a fact inside it is wrong.
03
A chatbot can explain ideas, copy styles, combine information, and work through a problem. It does not have human experience. Unless the product clearly says it searched reliable sources, do not assume it checked the claims in its answer.
AI can save time on drafting, explanation, and organization. Decide how carefully to check the result by asking what would happen if it were wrong.
Writing a prompt
"Turn these notes into a one-page checklist for new volunteers. Use plain language, preserve every date, flag anything unclear, and do not add facts that are not in the notes."
Then ask it to identify weak points: "Which parts of this answer are you least certain about?" and "What should I check before I use this?"
An AI feature can only work with information it can access. That information may include a question, email thread, meeting recording, document, photo, location, or account history. Some work happens on your device. Other work happens on computers run by the company.
The work happens on your phone or computer. This can keep information from leaving the device, but some features send harder requests to the company's computers.
A server is a computer run by the company, usually in a data center somewhere else. Your content leaves your device and may be stored for chat history, security reviews, or legal requirements.
Some consumer services use chats or feedback as training examples. A setting may let you stop this for future conversations.
The service may remember details about you or read from connected email, files, photos, or other accounts. It may use this information to change later answers, recommendations, or advertising.
You do not need to know these answers from memory. They are what the service's settings and privacy policy are for.
01
Can the company use this conversation as an example when it builds a later version? Turning this off usually affects future conversations. It cannot remove information from a model that has already been built.
02
Is the conversation saved? Who can see it? When is it deleted? A mode called "temporary" or "private" may still keep a copy for a short time for security checks.
03
Does the assistant use details from one conversation in later conversations? Turning off this feature and deleting details already saved may require two separate actions.
Official instructions
Menu names and available controls can change. These links go to instructions or privacy information published by the company that makes each product. Work and school accounts may be controlled by an administrator.
Turn use of new chats for model improvement on or off. The page also explains data export, account deletion, and Temporary Chat.
Change whether new chats and coding sessions may be used to improve Claude.
Turn saved activity on or off, choose automatic deletion, and delete activity already stored.
Change training, personalization, memory, advertising, and conversation-history controls for a personal Microsoft account.
Learn how to use Incognito Chat, where available, for a temporary AI conversation that WhatsApp says it cannot read or save.
Review how X uses Grok conversations and find its data-sharing and personalization controls.
Find data-retention, model-training, and other controls in your account settings.
Read what the service collects, how it uses chats, where it stores data, and how to request deletion or opt out of training.
Turn smart features on or off in Gmail and choose whether Workspace data is used to personalize other Google products.
Understand the privacy rules for Copilot in a work or school account. Your organization may control settings that you cannot change yourself.
Turn Recall on or off, control saved snapshots, filter apps and websites, and delete snapshots.
Understand where Apple Intelligence requests are processed and turn sharing for Improve Siri & Dictation on or off.
Review individual Galaxy AI features and, on supported devices, choose to process data only on the device.
Control Gemini in Chrome and other AI features, including the on-device AI model stored by the browser.
Review or delete Alexa voice recordings and manage how the recordings are used.
Turn AI meeting summaries on or off and review the account, group, and meeting controls.
Learn how automatic notes are started, where the notes are saved, and how participants are notified.
Delete a conversation, empty the Trash, and understand what remains in the Trash for 30 days.
Links checked August 11, 2026.
AI can help a scammer write a believable message, copy a familiar voice, or create a convincing video. Hearing or seeing someone on a call is no longer enough to prove who they are.
End the conversation. Hang up or stop replying. Do not use a number or link they gave you.
Contact them another way. Call a number already in your contacts or printed on an official statement or card. Do not use a number supplied by the person who contacted you.
Ask for information a stranger would not know.Use a family verification phrase or a question whose answer is not available online.
Ask someone else to check. Tell a family member, coworker, bank employee, or other trusted person what happened before you send money or information.
Set this up before you need it
Official help
Start with the bank, card company, payment service, or account that was affected. Contact it through its official app, website, statement, or the number printed on your card. Do not use a phone number or link from the suspicious message.
Free help for anyone
You do not need to be an AARP member. Call if you need help deciding whether something is a scam, if you or someone you know has been targeted, or if you need help choosing what to do next.
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Eastern Time
Trained fraud specialists and volunteers can help you recognize a scam, plan next steps, support a targeted family member, and find appropriate resources. Translation services are available during the call. The helpline does not replace contacting your bank, payment service, police, or a government reporting service when those steps are needed.
Open AARP's official helpline pageThe Federal Trade Commission explains what to do for each payment method and what to do if you shared personal information or access to a device.
FTC recovery stepsReport a scam or attempted scam to the Federal Trade Commission. A report helps investigators see patterns even when you did not lose money.
ReportFraud.ftc.govGet a recovery plan if someone used or may use your Social Security number, financial information, or other identifying information.
IdentityTheft.govThe Internet Crime Complaint Center accepts reports about online fraud, account takeovers, extortion, and other crimes that use the internet.
FBI Internet Crime Complaint CenterThe Federal Trade Commission explains voice-cloning scams and how to verify a caller by using a known phone number and another trusted person.
FTC family-emergency scam guideIf someone is in immediate danger, call 911 or local police.
You do not need this vocabulary to use AI. Knowing a few terms makes product claims and news stories much easier to evaluate.
About this guide
AI products, settings, and policies change frequently. Check the current documentation for a product before making a decision that depends on its features, privacy terms, or security practices.
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