According to reports, 65% of companies do not have AI policies that govern their use. 40% of HR professionals also claim that AI policies are lacking in their organizations.
It is clear that companies must adopt AI policies. Otherwise, they risk losing their intellectual property and data privacy, which can ultimately lead to a loss of trust from consumers, reduced revenues, and even collapse.
What are the most important policies for business, and how could they look?
What could good AI usage policies look like?
1. Privacy Guidelines
AI tools rely on a large amount of data to function, which by its nature tends to contain sensitive information. It is important that employees do not enter personal information or patents into these tools. Inputting sensitive information could lead to data leaks and hacks. This can harm business operations and reputation.
Businesses can reduce their risk of incidents by implementing a policy that is well-structured. To reduce the uncertainty surrounding the tool, it is important to make sure that the policy is tailored to the company’s values and principles. In light of the increasing regulatory scrutiny of AI, it is important that businesses develop policies to protect their customers, preserve their trust, and reduce risks of data breaches.
Also, it’s important to know that the majority of AI tools offer features to allow users to disable storage. These features should be used by employees to stop company data being used for AI training. It is important to comply with laws and regulations such as GDPR.
2. Avoiding biases & following ethical guidelines
In a rapidly changing AI landscape, it is important to guide the ethical use AI. Businesses should include a comprehensive ethical code regarding AI usage and best practices to ensure unbiased and responsible AI tool use. Your company can suffer negative consequences if it uses data that is inaccurate or biased in AI. Your ethical guidelines should be based on factors like inclusivity, explainability, bias mitigation, transparency, positive use and compliance with privacy rights.
3. Employee Training
Only 48% of employees claim to have received AI training. Businesses that use AI should make sure their employees are adequately trained. It is important that employees are trained to the fullest extent possible in order to get the most from the AI tool and also comply with any other guidelines set by the company.
The training should be tailored to the needs of your company and business sector. It is important to use AI in the most effective way possible for your company. AI in the healthcare sector is different from AI in the retail industry.
The following are some key factors and considerations to be covered for employee training:
- Build a solid foundation for employees to understand the basics of AI such as machine-learning and ethical considerations.
- This could include training on the specific AI tools that will be used to do the job, and how they will be leveraged.
- Make sure employees are aware of the safest and best ways to use tools.
- Use real-world scenarios and hands-on training to boost employee confidence.
- Continued development. Stay up-to-date on AI advances as a business and create new training when needed.
- Encourage a positive work environment where employees are free to express their questions, concerns, and ideas about the tools.
4. Risk management
AI is no exception. There are risks involved with AI, just as with other business tools. It is important to regularly conduct risk assessments and risk management to ensure that the tool is used in a safe and effective manner.
A good risk management involves a constant monitoring of systems and tools to detect any anomalies as soon as possible. To avoid data loss or unauthorised access, data risks can be reduced by regularly analysing data and adhering to privacy and security policies. AI tools must also be trained using accurate and unbiased data to maintain their integrity and reduce bias risks.
AI models are also at risk from cybersecurity breaches that could result in the loss of important consumer and business information. Businesses can mitigate this risk by implementing security practices, such as regular software upgrades, strong authentication methods and isolation of sensitive data. They should also ensure that staff are properly trained on AI usage and possible threats.
As discussed above, ethical guidelines must be established to minimize risk and to prevent privacy violations and bias.
AI in business must be used with caution and only after a thorough risk assessment.
5. AI Governance
The negative effects of AI on business have become increasingly well-known as AI is integrated more into daily work. A good AI governance can mitigate these negative effects by promoting trust, efficiency and responsible AI usage. To ensure that ethical standards are met, companies should establish committees to oversee AI policies and use. Effective governance policies will ultimately protect your business and consumers.
AI has a social impact as well as a technological one. Organisations need to understand both. To avoid biases in AI algorithms, it is important to examine the training data thoroughly. It is important to maintain transparency and clarity in the way AI algorithms work and make decisions, so your business can explain why AI-driven results are achieved.
AI should be used to manage and control the impact of AI on companies.
