Establishing good guidelines or guiding principles around the use of artificial intelligence in a company is crucial for several reasons. At the core, it helps employees understand how to best use AI. It also helps them be much more efficient as they perform their day-to-day activities. Basic rules help companies ensure AI is used correctly across the organization, and they help employees understand the implications of powerful AI tools.
We have helped a number of companies (including our own) establish AI guiding principles. Below is a quick list of recommended guiding principles. These can serve as a helpful jumping off point for organizations looking to add some structure around the use of AI.
In short, use these guiding principles to:
Use AI tools to help find information, generate reports, and automate repetitive tasks, freeing up time for more important work. Still, know how to perform these tasks yourself if AI was not available. AI is helpful but it’s not infallible.
It is not the be all and end all. Always review your work and put your business-focused mark on it. Edit the output to ensure it reflects the organization’s overall mission and communication style. The communication styles of many AI chat tools have a distinct tone and language structure. It’s fairly easy to detect if something is produced by AI (like ChatGPT, for example).
Trust but verify. AI is a powerful tool, and it's important to double-check the accuracy of the information it provides. This is especially important when it comes to financial reporting accuracy, legal regulations, and controls.
AI tools like Microsoft Copilot can access sensitive information in an organization’s environment, so it's important to use it responsibly. Do not expose intellectual property to the web, especially when outside organizations are involved.
AI is a powerful tool, but it's important to continuously learn how to use it more effectively and to provide feedback to improve its capabilities. Stay in the know about AI product updates and new AI tools on the market.
Good AI guiding principles ensure that employees use technology as a tool to improve efficiency without becoming overly dependent on it. This balance helps companies leverage AI's benefits while maintaining human oversight and critical thinking. For more information about technology and AI strategy, email us at info@trenegy.com.
Trenegy is a non-traditional consulting firm based in Houston, Texas.