How to Develop a Corporate AI Policy

AI adoption in the workplace has surged dramatically since 2023, with a staggering 72% increase in workplace use in the US alone. The question isn’t whether to embrace it, but how to do so responsibly.

With productivity gains and enhanced employee engagement on the line, crafting a robust corporate AI policy is the key to unlocking these benefits while safeguarding data and addressing ethical concerns about AI.

Protect your organization and empower your team to use AI responsibly with a robust corporate AI policy. Read on to learn how to set one up for your business.

What is a corporate AI policy?

AI promises a fundamental shift in the way we work, and so rules and guidelines need to evolve to keep up. A corporate AI policy is a set of guidelines to use AI at work responsibly and ethically.

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 vision of how AI should be used in your 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, as the policy can be updated in real time if changes need to be made.

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. 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.

But just because there are huge gains, doesn’t mean you should dive in head-first with no flotation device in sight. Like pets in the office, dating in the workplace, and more, it’s best to give your people guidance on how to use AI in the workplace up front, rather than wait to address problems when they appear.

Keep everyone on the same page

It’s crucial to ensure you have training and plans in place so everyone using AI in your workplace is on the same page. There should be no going it alone or going off-script. Instruct your managers to share the written policy with their teams early and often as an everyday reference tool.

Protect privacy and data

Your business and client data are extremely precious. A corporate AI policy can help alleviate concerns about how data interacts with AI tools, put limitations where necessary, and provide clear guidelines on what can and can’t be shared.

Comply with federal regulations

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

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 safe and responsible development of AI.

Stay up to date on current AI legislation and use it as a base for your policy.

Get ahead of the competition

If your industry is only just recognizing how AI can revolutionize the way you work, 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.

If your industry has used AI for a while now, be sure your policy makes the most of the tools you already have and sets you up for innovation and success by encouraging responsible and frequent use in the workplace.

Understanding the risks and benefits of AI in the workplace

There are risks and benefits to using AI. It can be an incredible tool, but it does have limitations. For instance, the idea that generative AI simply knows what you want is a huge misconception. Generative AI is always learning, so it’s important to provide as much context as possible when writing prompts, which are like conversation-starters in your AI partnership.

Our main takeaway when considering the use of AI: ensure there’s human input at every step. It’s important that teams learn how to engage with AI to enhance their work, not replace it.

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.

Benefits of using AI

• Handle a large amount 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.
• Solve complex problems quickly: AI can quickly produce solutions for scenarios and calculations. Great if you’re not a math whizz or just don’t want to spend the time to work something out.
• Improve efficiency: Data sorting and formal email writing can be quickly carried out using AI, saving employees time on those tedious everyday jobs.
• Provide 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 tools can be great.

Risks of using AI

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

• Data leaks: You should never enter sensitive data into a generative AI model. These tools train on user data, so what you feed it helps it learn. But that also means it’s not a secure location for sensitive or personally identifiable data, like passwords, SSNs, and more.
• Trade secrets: Like data leaks, it’s important to think twice about the business information you give to an AI model. Never use AI to work with proprietary or classified information for the same reasons.
• AI hallucinations: AI hallucinations are incorrect facts an AI tool presents as true. This happens when a model pulls inaccurate information, learns on unreliable sources, or makes something up. If a business then uses this, it can result in the wrong information being shared and impact trust from customers and clients. Always double-check information yourself to ensure what you share with customers is real and valid.
• Algorithmic bias: Because Generative AI still learns on models with human input, it’s vulnerable to human influence and bias. As with the other points, always review AI-generated information before sharing it to make sure it’s relevant, true, and aligns with your company values.

How do I ensure ethical AI use?

Your corporate AI policy needs to outline how to use AI ethically and define exactly what that means at your workplace. UNESCO recommends only using AI where necessary. Again, you’ll need to define what that means for your company!

5 steps to creating a corporate AI policy

A corporate AI policy will take time to create and organize. To save you time, we’ve provided detailed steps to help you get started writing a corporate AI policy of your own.

Step 1: Evaluate your company’s needs

First, you’ll need to consider your company’s needs. The first question is: how will AI be used in your business? Is it a tool for admin support to reduce time spent on these tasks to improve efficiencies? Is it a springboard for ideation, offering initial inspiration that your team can take and adapt? Is it being used to create content for your website or a client’s website?

How you want to 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. This is also a good time to agree on who owns the AI policy and ensure it’s 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 your people can easily peruse the corporate AI policy and understand what’s required of them.

This framework should define the company objectives, the goals of using AI, and the benefits for team members and the business. Your framework also needs to highlight who’ll communicate policy and monitor it once it’s rolled out. It’s a good idea to have dedicated HR team members (or AI pros) who know the policy inside out and can help others across teams.

This framework should ideally acknowledge how AI is going to impact them in the workplace. Will AI-powered efficiencies lighten their workload, or will they be expected to pick up additional tasks to fill their time? Will regular AI training be provided, and will it be required? Highlighting these aspects can help employees understand and make effective use of AI.

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

Step 3: 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. Check out how HR teams can write effective prompts for ChatGPT.
• 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 3: Keep track of emerging AI laws and regulations

Government may move slowly, but businesses can’t afford to fall out of compliance with government regulations once they’re in place. AI is still new enough that regulations are still being developed, so it’s important to check regularly to make sure your business is following the rules as they come out.

Step 5: Implement and regularly review your policy

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 everything is covered and worded appropriately..

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 develop, you’ll need to evolve with it—so be flexible with your policy document and understand that it’ll need adapting as time moves on.

Once they’ve had time to look over it, don’t forget to ask for feedback from your employees. You’ll want to understand how they feel about using AI, any challenges they’re coming up against, and whether there’s anything that needs adding to the policy.

Making the most of your AI company policy

By establishing a robust corporate AI policy, you can harness the power of AI to boost productivity and engagement while safeguarding data and promoting ethical practices. Regularly reviewing and updating your policy will ensure your organization stays ahead of the curve, fostering a responsible and innovative workplace culture.