How to Develop a Corporate AI Policy

As ChatGPT and other AI tools rapidly shape the business landscape, companies are scrambling to take advantage of their benefits and avoid the risks. Since ChatGPT’s release in November 2022, businesses have been trying to find ways to benefit from the tool. However, the concept is still so new that no one is entirely sure which direction it’ll go in.

Will it take jobs? Is it an ethical tool for businesses to use? Is it safe when it comes to handling data? But the first question really should be—is my business protected? Do these questions sound familiar? You need a corporate AI policy.

Make sure you’re protected and empower your team to use AI responsibly and ethically with a robust corporate AI policy. Read on to learn how to set one up for your business.

What Is a Corporate AI Policy?

A corporate AI policy is a set of regulations created by a company to make sure AI is used responsibly and ethically day to day. This policy will also strive to align with your business values and legal expectations.

AI has created a fundamental shift in the way we work and so rules and guidelines are essential to keep up with this.

The policy should highlight the risks of using AI and how to navigate these to effectively make use of it while protecting employees, clients, and the business overall. This policy should provide a general oversight of how AI can be utilized in the company, with teams incorporating these rules into their day-to-day practices.

We’d recommend uploading the policy to a central location where employees can easily access and reference the document. A company intranet is a good option, and the policy can be updated in real time if changes or regulations are introduced that impact how AI is used in your industry.

Why Having an AI Company Policy Is Important

AI can be an excellent tool for businesses, improving efficiencies, inspiring new ways of working, and providing support where needed.

At BambooHR, we’re big fans of using AI to analyze employee feedback, allowing HR teams to quickly understand what’s being done well and what needs work in a business. Our guide on how HR teams can effectively use AI has more details on this.

With AI being introduced to business processes more each day, you must have a policy in place. But why? We’ve considered some of the key reasons.

Ensure All Employees Are Working to the Same Principles

Training and having plans in place to ensure everyone using AI in your business has the policy to refer to keeps the required alignments in place. There should be no going off-script; instruct your managers to share the policy and use it as an everyday reference tool.

Protect Privacy and Data

Your business data and client data are extremely precious. A corporate AI policy can help alleviate concerns about how data is submitted to AI tools, putting limitations where necessary and providing clear guidelines on what can and can’t be used.

Comply with Federal Regulations

The US has been working on AI-related legislation since 2020, when it first introduced the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020.

In 2023, the Biden administration pushed for the “Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of AI.” This was created to direct agencies to tackle algorithm discrimination and for large companies to commit to supporting the development of AI in a safe manner.

Review current AI legislation and use this as a base for your policy to ensure you are complying with recommendations.

Get Ahead of the Competition

If your industry is only just recognizing how AI can be adopted in day-to-day practices, creating a corporate AI policy puts you at the front of the pack. You’ll be the standard other businesses set themselves against if your company manages to adopt AI and align its use with the values and ethics you work by.

Make Sure Your Workforce Uses AI Ethically

Ethical AI is something all businesses must consider when adopting practices that make use of artificial intelligence. Your corporate AI policy needs to outline how to use AI ethically.

This should cover everything from data privacy and what protective practices should be in place to data bias, so the outcome is inclusive of all genders, ages, and races. Ethical AI use not only protects a business but any clients you may be using it for too.

Understanding the Risks and Benefits of AI in The Workplace

There are risks and benefits to using AI. It can be an incredible support tool, but it does have limitations and recommended ways of use.

Our main takeaway when considering the use of AI: ensure there is human input at every step.

For example, if you’re creating a blog using generative AI it’s important that this is checked by editorial staff before it goes live. This can help make sure the information included is accurate and from a reliable source and that the quality of the content produced is up to the standard expected of your business.

Having processes in place to ensure human input can alleviate a lot of risk—but there are still some to think about before you get started. Highlight these in your corporate AI policy and present ways of dealing with them to avoid issues later.

What Are the Benefits of Using AI?

• Handles large amounts of data: If you need to process large amounts of data, AI can very quickly sort it as needed. From elements in a table to splitting out trends, it’s an effective tool. Just make sure you aren’t uploading any sensitive information.
• Solves complex problems quickly: AI can quickly contemplate and produce answers for scenarios and calculations. Great if you’re not a math whiz or just don’t have the time to work something out.
• Improves efficiency: Data sorting and formal email writing can be quickly carried out using AI, saving employees time on those tedious everyday jobs.
• Provides in-depth analysis: AI is excellent at reviewing data or documents and providing insightful analysis. Need a document broken down to just the key points? Want the key data points from a recent employee survey pulled out of a large data set? AI is a great tool to have.

What Are the Risks of Using AI?

AI is a fantastic tool to add to your arsenal, but it’s important to always be aware of the risks it can pose. Here, we’ve covered some of these to consider:

• Data Leaks: Data leaks are a risk when using AI, which is why you should never input sensitive data into a generative AI model. These tools use data that’s been added to them to train the tool, meaning it’s stored and susceptible to being hacked.
• Privacy Issues: Like data leaks, when inputting business data into any AI model, there’s a risk of private information being stolen or used in the wrong way.
• AI Hallucinations: AI hallucinations can be dangerous, as they generate incorrect facts, presenting them as true while pulling information from unreliable sources or mixing up information. If a business then uses this, it can result in the wrong information being shared and impact trust from customers and clients.
• Plagiarism: AI pulls in information from across the web, weaving it into something new. But there is still the risk that what it generates isn’t different enough from the original source, which can result in plagiarism.
• Algorithmic Bias: It’s believed that AI will always have some form of bias as it draws information from sources that may be originally biased. This means more work is needed to verify the information and adjust output to avoid discrimination and ensure what is generated is inclusive.

5 Steps to Creating a Corporate AI Policy

A corporate AI policy will take time to create and organize, as you’ll need to decide how to make it work for your business and what rules and regulations need to be covered. Here, we’ve provided detailed steps for you to follow as guidance, but each step can be adapted to suit your needs.

Step 1: Evaluate Your Company’s Needs

First, you’ll need to consider your company’s needs.

• How will AI be used in your business?
• Is it simply a tool for day-to-day admin support to reduce time spent on these tasks to improve efficiencies?
• Is it being used to create content that will sit on your website or a client’s website?
• Is it simply a springboard for ideation, offering initial inspiration that your team can take and adapt?

How you use AI will shape your corporate AI policy. Speak to your team to understand the current processes in place and how AI will need to fit within these. You may find that you need to add steps to ethically and safely adopt AI in your everyday practices—adding an extra quality check as part of the proofing process for copy creation is a good example of this.

This first step is also a good time to agree on who owns the AI policy and ensure it is implemented and adhered to. Set up discussions to discuss ownership and identify key roles.

Step 2: Create a Framework

An effective framework helps you keep everything clearly outlined so people can easily dip in and out of your corporate AI policy and understand what’s required of them when working with AI. It provides the foundation for your policy and can be adapted as needed.

This framework should define the company objectives, highlighting how important it is that these are always kept in mind when working with AI.

It should also feature the goals of using AI and what the benefits are for team members and the business.

• Is AI needed to improve efficiency?
• Can it be used to improve customer experience?

Define these goals and have them highlighted for employees to refer to.

Your framework also needs to highlight who’ll be communicating policy and monitoring it once it is rolled out. It’s a good idea to have dedicated employees who know the AI policy inside out and can help others on the team.

This framework should ideally acknowledge how the introduction of AI is going to impact them. Will they be expected to pick up additional work due to efficiencies? Will they need to undergo more regular training once AI is introduced. Highlighting these aspects can help employees understand and make effective use of AI.

Finally, you need to define how people will highlight and report on any issues they’re having. A dedicated senior member of staff is essential to the effective implementation of AI.

Step 3: Understand AI Laws and Regulations

Every state has its own laws. This is why you need to thoroughly research AI and how it can be used in your business.

AI is still so new that states are continuously working to define their regulations but it’s still important to check to make sure your business is following the rules. The Council of State Government notes that 29 bills have been enacted across 17 states since 2019.

Step 4: Research AI Software

Once you’ve determined which rules and legislation you need to follow and set up a framework for implementing AI-related work, you’ll need to do some research and find AI software that does what you need it to.

There are a wide variety of tools available, some of which have been created solely with HR professionals in mind. We’ve broken down a few suggestions below.

What Are the Best AI Tools To Use In HR?

There are a few tools out there that HR teams can use and benefit from:

• ChatGPT: Great for whipping up formal emails quickly and processing data from surveys or processing employee data. Our blog featuring some prompts for ChatGPT for HR teams is a great way to get started.
• Peoplebox: This tool offers an AI resume checker, speeding up that lengthy resume-checking process and scanning documents for the key details hiring managers need.
• Effy AI: If you’re looking for a tool to speed up the 360-feedback process, Effy covers everything from setting up questionnaires to matching employees and notifying people at every step.
• Checkr: This platform uses AI to sort data from background checks, which can save HR teams a lot of time and effort.
• Kona: The Kona AI offering is designed to support remote managers to help develop their leadership skills and provide training via Slack.

Step 5: Implement and Regularly Review

Once your AI policy is written up, get it checked by your legal team if you have one. They should be able to confirm that the wording is correct and that everything is covered as needed.

But once that document is finished and shared with your team, that doesn’t mean the work is done. You’ll need to set time aside to check in on your policy to make sure it’s up to date and review the software used to ensure it’s compliant with regulations and your needs.

As AI continues to shift and involve, you’ll need to move with it – so be flexible with your policy document and understand that it will need adapting as time moves on.

Ask for feedback from your employees to understand how they feel about using AI, any challenges they’re coming up against, and if there’s anything that needs adding to the policy so other team members are working to the same level of detail.

How Can I Best Communicate My Corporate AI Policy to Employees?

It’s best to be open and honest when it comes to AI. Employees may already be nervous, so be sure to present it as a tool for them to use and make their work easier.

Share the policy document and‌ book a meeting to talk them through it, highlighting the most important sections and anything they need to keep in mind when considering its features.