The “BYOAI” Problem: Secret Employee Use of AI Tools

Some companies have responded to the risks associated with ChatGPT and similar AI tools by forbidding their employees from using them. Unfortunately for these digital age King Canutes, that’s unlikely to be a successful approach.  A recent Pymnts.com article observes that banning these tools is neither practical nor effective, because employees will simply develop workarounds to the ban.  Instead, it suggests several steps that companies should take to manage the risks associated with “bring your own AI” (BOAI) practices by employees.  For example, MIT’s Nick van der Mulen and Barbara Wixom stress the importance of providing approved tools from trusted vendors:

Since banning AI tools won’t work and allowing the use of any AI tools isn’t feasible either because it becomes impossible to use them safely, organizations should instead provide approved AI tools to employees.

Zoetis implemented a “GenAI app store” where employees apply for a licensed seat. They have to say why they need the app, and then share their experiences using it. This helps the company identify valuable applications while managing costs. “It’s how you avoid paying $50 a month for Joe from Finance who … used it exactly once to write a birthday card,” van der Meulen said.

For organizations just beginning their GenAI journey, Wixom also recommended establishing a center of excellence — which could be a single person or a small team — to provide an enterprise-wide perspective and coordinate efforts across departments.

But most of all, “it is important to remind everyone what the end game is here,” Wixom said. “The point of AI, regardless of its flavor, should be to create value for our organizations and ideally value that hits our books.”

Other recommendations include establishing clear guardrails and guidelines for acceptable uses of AI, and investing in training and education to ensure that employees can use AI tools well.