The Importance of Developing an AI Use Policy
By: Alex Smith
As the use of AI platforms to perform administrative and professional functions becomes increasingly ubiquitous, companies may find that their employees are utilizing AI to assist in performing their job functions. Although the use of AI may offer short-term efficiencies, companies should approach the adoption of AI in the workplace with caution. Indeed, there are unique risks presented when utilizing AI at work, but, with proper safeguards in place, this integration can be done while accounting for these concerns.
Incorrect Results
Errors driven by the use of AI have become prevalent across industries. From the Chicago Sun-Times publication of a summer reading list including made-up books, to lawyers citing case law invented by ChatGPT, one does not need to look far for examples of incorrect results and information generated by AI. It is essential that any workplace AI use policy requires human review and verification for accuracy of any AI- generated content. Fallout from reliance on incorrect AI generated information could range from damage to one’s reputation to significant injury to clients and customers, depending on the nature of the inaccuracy.
IP Infringement
Generative AI can be an incredibly useful for the creation of written and visual content, however, have you ever thought about where that content comes from? In order to generate this content, AI models are “trained” through the input of existing works. The AI will in turn develop its results based on this input of existing works. As such, it is possible that the written or visual content that the AI is delivering incorporates elements of existing works that are subject to copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property protection. Accordingly, a company’s use of this content may result in disputes with respect to IP ownership.
Disclosure of IP and Sensitive Information
Conversely to the above, the use of an AI model may result in the inadvertent disclosure of one’s own intellectual property and expose oneself to the risk of IP disclosure. When uploading one’s own content to an AI model for assistance, that content becomes part of that same learning model on which the AI is trained. Accordingly, another user of this model may be able to extract your company’s intellectual property or other sensitive information when using the model. This may put a company at risk of losing valuable intellectual property to its competitors or other actors. Moreover, a company may have other legal or contractual obligations with respect to customer and vendor data. Inputting this protected information into an AI model could result in a violation of these requirements.
How to Navigate
It is essential that a company has a thorough AI Use policy in place to protect against these risks. This policy should ensure that AI-generated results are thoroughly reviewed and that proper intellectual property protections are in place. Further, this policy should discourage the use of AI in the context of generating visual or other creative content, as the risk of infringement is present when relying on AI for these purposes.
For assistance drafting and reviewing workplace policies, please contact alex@smithpllcmn.com, (612) 361-6394, or submit a request through our web portal.
