As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be rapidly adopted by organizations across various industries, legal and compliance leaders face increasing pressure to provide clear guidance on the responsible use of such technologies. The rapid integration and innovation in AI bring a host of benefits, but they also raise crucial ethical and compliance challenges. With the EU’s AI Act, the DOJ’s enforcement warnings, and other regulatory frameworks coming into play, ensuring AI is used appropriately and ethically is paramount. Thus, organizations must establish effective AI policies to safeguard against misuse and manage risks efficiently.
Most recently, the DOJ emphasized a strong position against AI misuse and stated that a company’s AI risk management is a critical part of its compliance efforts. This statement underscores the urgency for legal and compliance leaders to update their AI risk management programs. Furthermore, communicating clear AI guidelines to employees becomes indispensable as inappropriate AI usage could threaten an organization’s compliance standing. Legal and compliance leaders must ensure that policies are not only in place but are also clear and understood by all employees.
Evaluate Current Code Framework
Integrating AI content into your existing code framework and risk evaluation provides an excellent opportunity for legal and compliance leaders to highlight essential corporate values. By linking the ethical use of AI to a company-wide principle, they can send a powerful message to the workforce about the importance of responsible use. Legal and compliance leaders can also take this chance to emphasize specific company values, reinforcing the ethical conduct expected from employees while using AI technologies.
Companies with limited AI use cases may witness risk manifest in a singular area. Conversely, those with various AI use cases handling more complex issues may benefit from dedicating a section in the code of conduct to provide context and clarity. Addressing these risks by updating codes of conduct and organizational policy documents ensures that employees have the necessary guardrails to prevent inadvertently leaking sensitive data. Moreover, without clear guidelines, employees might use AI to make biased decisions or draft misleading communications.
Offer Practical Illustrations
Providing employees with practical guidance and examples of expected behavior is crucial for ensuring that AI is employed responsibly and ethically within an organization. Explaining why AI is essential to the business, how it offers innovative solutions, or how it can enhance service speed can underscore the significance of ethical AI use. This practical guidance also helps illustrate the high stakes involved in leveraging AI technologies responsibly.
Practical examples of role-specific responsibilities are essential in this guidance. Staff involved in designing, deploying, or testing AI as part of their duties need clear examples aligned with their roles. Company executives might benefit from a standalone, public-facing AI code highlighting their responsibilities with teams, vendors, and business processes. The code of conduct should summarize expectations and link to relevant policies or documents that provide more detailed information on AI-related topics, ensuring employees are well-informed and aligned with organizational standards.
Ensure Clarity and Uniformity
Ensuring clarity and uniformity in AI policies is critical for maintaining effective compliance and risk management. Overstating AI risk controls or issuing inconsistent guidelines can undermine the effectiveness of AI policies. Therefore, the AI section in the company’s code should align with any lower-level guidance already issued, such as a generative AI (GenAI) use policy if the company has one. Compliance leaders must be cautious when making claims about their risk controls to avoid unsupported statements.
Working with partners across various departments, including IT, data privacy, and enterprise risk management, can help confirm that the relevant processes are in place and consistently followed. Before highlighting AI risk controls in the code, it is essential to ensure these processes are operational and effective. This coordination aids in maintaining a consistent and reliable approach to AI governance across the organization, ensuring that all AI-related activities align with the broader compliance framework.
Form an AI Oversight Committee
Establishing an AI board or similar governing body is a proactive step towards balancing the organization’s AI ambitions with risk tolerance. Legal and compliance officers should partner with other key stakeholders involved in privacy, IT security, and risk management to form a cross-functional team. This team’s objective is to identify, assess, and mitigate risks associated with AI solutions, ensuring that AI deployment aligns with organizational goals and compliance requirements.
The AI oversight committee should include representation from IT, data & analytics, and AI strategy technical teams. These teams play a pivotal role in facilitating AI deployment while addressing actual and residual risks tied to specific use cases and deployment models. By aligning objectives across different functions, the committee can ensure a holistic approach to AI governance, balancing innovation with the necessary safeguards to protect against potential risks.
Examine and Supervise AI Throughout Its Lifecycle
As artificial intelligence is quickly adopted across various industries, legal and compliance leaders are under increasing pressure to offer clear guidance on its responsible use. While AI integration and innovation bring many benefits, they also pose significant ethical and compliance challenges. With regulations like the EU’s AI Act and the DOJ’s enforcement warnings, ensuring ethical AI usage is critical. Organizations must develop effective AI policies to prevent misuse and manage risks effectively.
Recently, the DOJ highlighted its firm stance against AI abuse, emphasizing that AI risk management is vital to a company’s compliance efforts. This underscores the need for legal and compliance leaders to revise their AI risk management programs urgently. Furthermore, clear communication of AI guidelines to employees is essential since improper AI use could jeopardize an organization’s compliance status. Legal and compliance leaders must ensure that these policies are not just in place but are well-understood by all employees to maintain ethical standards and regulatory compliance.
