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OpenAI is connecting ChatGPT to bank accounts via Plaid

firethering.com

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Re: OpenAI is connecting ChatGPT to bank accounts via Plaid

#81
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OpenAI is now run by former Meta executives.

Okay, what concrete harms has Meta done with this information? At best you have some creeps using it to stalk their exes, which is bad, but a far cry from the AI takeover scenario implied by OP.

I haven't implied an AI takeover, this data will be repackaged into a product for military/intelligence, political applications, insurance companies that can charge you more because they know you're willing to pay, and many more.

These things already exist and happen, it's about the data getting better and not having to build tools to query it and make projections, since you can just type a query into a box even if you're not a data scientist.

Re: OpenAI is connecting ChatGPT to bank accounts via Plaid

#82
post #68
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depending on the rate difference, I'd be tempted to setup a 'burner' checking account at a separate financial institution and just auto-transfer the loan amount from my primary bank to the burner every month.

That generally wouldn’t pass underwriting. They want the account the money is coming from to be the account with history and money in it already.

Really? Both times I got a loan they wanted bank statements from all of my main accounts and verifiable income history, but they didn’t care that I was paying from an account that I had just opened for the specific purpose of paying the loan.

Re: OpenAI is connecting ChatGPT to bank accounts via Plaid

#83

I’ve been asked to sign up to plaid by clients three times. Each time I’ve said no. I’m not giving a 3rd party access to my bank account. I don’t understand how people enable this total loss of friction for direct account egress. There needs to be friction.

Have you ever entered your routing+account number into HR software for direct deposit? Doesn't that qualify as handing a third party essentially the same access as Plaid gets? I think bank accounts are generally more accessible in the modern era, it's just a risk that you take. Of course, you're not obligated to use Plaid but I do find the concerns around this quite strange since you're likely exposing account inform…

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Re: OpenAI is connecting ChatGPT to bank accounts via Plaid

#84

I’ve been asked to sign up to plaid by clients three times. Each time I’ve said no. I’m not giving a 3rd party access to my bank account. I don’t understand how people enable this total loss of friction for direct account egress. There needs to be friction.

Many banks just OAuth with Plaid now.

Re: OpenAI is connecting ChatGPT to bank accounts via Plaid

#86

I'm not sure if Plaid still is- but when they first came out they were pretty evil. They would go into your accounts and download all activity. I spent many hours e-mailing them, trying to get a clear answer of what data they collect- and they never said no to anything. Whenever I've been forced to use Plaid, I use a throw away "free-checking" bank account that has $1 in it. I guess birds of a feather flock together.

Plaid is criticized because it’s a public-facing mechanism for third-party access into your finances, but many companies already have access without you knowing. In the US, many banks share nonpublic info such as transactions with retailers, marketers, government agencies, and others. They’re allowed to do so under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Report from the GOA:

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-36

Re: OpenAI is connecting ChatGPT to bank accounts via Plaid

#87

I feel like every single day OpenAI and Anthropic are entrenching their slopware in everyday products and workplaces with little to no way to opt-out. This is getting dystopian.

I now think AI is a virus, which infects whatever it touches. Not just software, but the books (there're already slopbooks printed, and I'm not talking about fiction books, but rather real textbooks, history, music, art, etc...). In XX years what can you even trust? We will adapt and get around it, but I'm not yet sure how.

Re: OpenAI is connecting ChatGPT to bank accounts via Plaid

#88
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That generally wouldn’t pass underwriting. They want the account the money is coming from to be the account with history and money in it already.

Really? Both times I got a loan they wanted bank statements from all of my main accounts and verifiable income history, but they didn’t care that I was paying from an account that I had just opened for the specific purpose of paying the loan.

same. maybe it just depends on the bank, but i can't imagine why that would matter at all. they have the whole picture of your financial history, generally. what does it matter whether that one bank account has only enough in it to pay off the loan every month.

Re: OpenAI is connecting ChatGPT to bank accounts via Plaid

#89

It’s like we are trying to run as fast as possible towards an AI controlled disaster by connecting absolutely everything we can to the AI… even in the worst sci-fi the robots need to steal codes to get access to systems and we are just leaving the door wide open.

I read about a post that in dn42 community where a dude set up an AI agent with access to his Amazon API, which eventually deployed servers generating a bill of $6000.

Re: OpenAI is connecting ChatGPT to bank accounts via Plaid

#90
post #84

I’ve been asked to sign up to plaid by clients three times. Each time I’ve said no. I’m not giving a 3rd party access to my bank account. I don’t understand how people enable this total loss of friction for direct account egress. There needs to be friction.

Many banks just OAuth with Plaid now.

But what comes after? Can users decline or at least downgrade the level of access requested by whoever wants to peek into their bank account? Do banks clearly indicate (and periodically remind the user about!) all parties currently having access to their account?

It's usually still persistent full access, and given that, the question of whether the user's password also leaks in the process is almost besides the point.

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