\n Love it or hate it, AI is increasingly becoming integral to the way we work.\n <\/p>\n
\n So, like a lot of employees, you\u2019ve started using it for your assignments.\n <\/p>\n
\n That\u2019s great \u2013 unless you\u2019re not clear on what defines acceptable versus unacceptable uses of AI for your job and which specific tools your employer has approved or prohibited.\n <\/p>\n
\n Here\u2019s how to get a better sense of all that and minimize potential trouble, even if your employer hasn\u2019t been great in spelling things out.\n <\/p>\n
\n Generative AI can be impressive \u2013 for instance, helping you find data or making connections you\u2019d otherwise miss; and testing work products for design flaws or mistakes.\n <\/p>\n
\n At the same time, it\u2019s also highly imperfect and subject to so-called \u201challucinations\u201d \u2013 defined by IBM as \u201ca phenomenon where (it) perceives patterns or objects that are nonexistent or imperceptible to human observers, creating outputs that are nonsensical or altogether inaccurate.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n In other words, it can produce hot garbage.\n <\/p>\n
\n An AI tool may be excused by its promoters for those hallucinations, but you won\u2019t be.\n <\/p>\n
\n That\u2019s why when it comes to your job, \u201cnever blindly rely on AI,\u201d said Dave Walton, an employer-side attorney who co-chairs Fisher Phillips\u2019 AI, Data, and Analytics Practice Group.\n <\/p>\n
\n Instead, view it as an initial assist. \u201cGenerative AI is the best thing in the world to get you from zero to not bad in 60 seconds,\u201d said Niloy Ray, a co-lead of the AI practice at the employer-side law firm Littler Mendelson.\n <\/p>\n
\n But, he added, \u201c\u2019Not bad\u2019 is rarely the standard to which you\u2019re working.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s up to you to verify anything you incorporate from AI into your projects. And to be transparent with your boss whenever you use it for that purpose.\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s hard to say definitively how many employers have full-blown AI policies in place, though the numbers are likely on the rise.\n <\/p>\n
\n Some non-scientific surveys suggest it is a smaller share than the high percentages of employees who say they\u2019re already using AI.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cSelf-directed AI use has grown to 65%, creating both innovation and risk as employees explore tools ahead of formal guidance,\u201d according to the American Management Association, which surveyed 1,365 professionals in varying industries across 29 countries this year.\n <\/p>\n
\n Meanwhile, a recent Littler survey of 349 professionals from US companies of varying sizes and industries found that 38% of companies said they created a specific policy for employee use of AI; another 13% said they\u2019d developed guidelines; and 19% indicated they fit AI use into pre-existing workplace policies.\n <\/p>\n
\n So, before doing anything else, check what AI policies and guidelines your employer has put in place.\n <\/p>\n