When developers realize their AI prompts contain sensitive data, the first instinct is usually: "I'll just encrypt it."
It makes sense. Encryption is the universal answer to data protection. Encrypt at rest, encrypt in transit, encrypt end-to-end. Follow that playbook and you're safe.
Except with AI APIs, encryption at the wrong layer doesn't just fail to protect your data — it makes the AI completely useless.
Here's the technical breakdown of why encryption breaks AI, why hashing doesn't work either, and why masking is the right approach.
Layer 1: Encryption — Why It Fails for AI
