On its face, artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT seem like great ways to increase employee productivity.
Yet you shouldn’t give your workers unlimited authority to use these tools because of the adverse legal consequences.
For example, don’t let your employees input confidential information (e.g., business plans, trade secrets, etc.) into an AI tool because that information may be used against your business by either the tool’s owner or a competitor who uses the same tool. After all, AI can produce identical output in response to similar input by your competition.
Similarly, you don’t want employees to “delegate” creation of intellectual property (IP) to an AI tool when it’s unclear who will own the IP that’s generated.
In addition, there is the slippery slope of employees dumping their responsibilities onto AI tools, getting paid for work they didn’t do, and not disclosing to you as the employer that the “work-for-hire” really isn’t theirs.
So, it makes sense to have a written Employee AI Use Policy and perhaps even address the issue in your written employment agreements so that it’s clear what can and cannot be done with artificial intelligence tools.
If you need legal help with this, you probably ought to schedule a phone consultation with Attorney Mike Young.
