“With great power comes great responsibility.“
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our workflows, we must keep ethical considerations front and center, with transparency and bias avoidance at the top of the list.
Transparency Builds Trust
- The relationship between you and your clients must be built on trust. Being transparent about your use of AI to process customer data is essential. Even if not contractually required (although it probably is), the client has a right to decide how you and who can process their data.
- If AI is used to create client deliverables, refine it to ensure they are getting the benefit of your expertise.
- Only use AI tools that align with industry regulations and safeguard sensitive customer data.
- When using AI to create your own materials, consider the circumstances in deciding whether to disclose AI participation. Your reader may want to know. Recall the newsletter I wrote last year about the “Human Authored” badge offered by the Authors Guild of America.
- AI models learn from existing data, which reflects historical and societal biases. If the training data is skewed or unrepresentative, the AI will produce biased outputs, reinforcing stereotypes or marginalizing certain groups.
- Check out this study by Business Insider in March 2023 which revealed that OpenAI's DALL-E 2 generated images of a "CEO" as a white man 97% of the time.
- Don’t forget that AI-generated content adapts to your inputs. When using a platform like ChatGPT, it “learns” what output you want based on prior chats. Although this learning is generally considered a benefit, the downside is that this feedback loop can reinforce and perpetuate existing biases.
Best Practices for Ethical AI Use
To use AI responsibly, take a moment to consider how AI is being used in your business:
- Am I being honest about AI involvement?
- Am I reviewing AI-generated work for accuracy and bias?
- Do I have safeguards in place to protect customer data and intellectual property?
Understanding AI’s ethical implications is just as important as leveraging its efficiency.
Hit reply and tell me how AI is impacting your business.
