"Whether you use ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, Copilot or Perplexity – generative AI poses massive problems: many results are inaccurate and politically problematic, the systems’ energy and water consumption is enormous. At the same time, they have become an integral part of everyday life. AlgorithmWatch has developed guidelines to help use generative AI responsibly. As an organization, we fight against the irresponsible and unaccountable development, deployment, and use of digital technologies. But such technologies can also, when used responsibly, aid us in this mission. Generative AI is a particularly important example, which raises questions of how we act responsibly and balance benefits against risks.
This publication introduces the principles and processes of our policy. We hope it may provide a useful model for other organizations considering how they should use generative AI responsibly, balancing useful cases with the risks of these technologies. Developing and implementing such a policy is challenging, given the range of use cases, risks/benefits, and views on generative AI – many of which change rapidly. Our approach started with a survey of our staff to establish (i) beneficial use cases they find from generative AI and (ii) concerns and risks they see around the use of generative AI for AlgorithmWatch’s work. We then developed a policy designed to guide individual staff members as they make decisions about whether, and how, to use generative AI in a way that aligns with our values and mission. This is based on 4 principles: Proportionality; Security; Quality; Transparency. The policy also incorporates a structured process for collecting and discussing use cases and tools as well as updating the policy over time, which is necessary to address the range of uses and ongoing changes in the technology, its benefits, and its risks." (https://algorithmwatch.org)