The Integrity of Using AI
Well, hello there! This is Elevated, the podcast all about helping you build a better Kitchen & Bath Design business. I’m Brandy, your host, systems advocate and all around efficiency enthusiast. In this season we are examining the world of Artificial Intelligence as it relates to running your business.
By now you’ve noticed that there’s been no episodes or discussion about using AI for the designing part of your business. That is intentional. My expertise is in business, systems and how systems can support service businesses like yours. There are many other design experts out there that can give you insights on how to use AI in your craft, or maybe you’ll be inspired by these examples of how to use AI to run your business and give some a try. In either case – I’m leaving the design and craft to you and those other experts. There are plenty of them out there. Here we’ll focus on the infrastructure, skills and systems you need to build a business around your craft.
Why Integrity in Using AI Matters for Your Business
On to today’s episode where we are talking about integrity and ethics when it comes to using AI.
Some of the challenges in using AI ethically is that it is moving really fast and best practices and legislation can’t keep up. – unlike in other places like email marketing where there are clear laws and best practices, if you are using AI it isn’t going to work to rely on others to show you how to do it well.
It might feel easy then to just resign ourselves to accepting it is the Wild West out there for AI and disregard the need to create our own set of rules to play by. I believe in personal accountability. I think this is precisely the place where businesses need to step up and define their rules in line with their core values.
Practical Tips for Maintaining Integrity in Using AI
In hopes of helping you somewhat easily create your own frameworks for ethically using AI, here’s what I’ve come up with for best practices based on my research and use.
1. Be Transparent
Be transparent – more simply put, disclose that you are using AI. This can be as simple as including additional clauses in contracts that state that AI is used in creating communications, or wherever else it might be used. If AI is used to help generate content, email drafts or enhance images you can give “credit” by saying it was created with the help of AI.
2. Use Your Core Values to Guide You
Use your core values to guide you – when in doubt, check your core values. If you find yourself wrestling with when & where to use AI in your business, the fastest way to decide is to check in with your core values. Because two of our core values at FieryFX are Give a Damn and Figure it out & Get Shit Done we are all-in on embracing AI. We use it to support and power what the humans in our organization are capable of.
3. Create Checkpoints
Create checkpoints – We are all human beings and even with the best of instructions and intentions can still make errors. Creating checkpoints can help catch mistakes and give us helpful structure to assist in better decisions and outcomes. This could look like
- having a peer review of articles before they go out, or
- a checklist for publishing, a
- review committee for new email templates or
- even just a couple questions that get answered.
These checkpoints should happen before anything gets sent to a client when using AI.
4. Be Explicit About Expectations
Be explicit about expectations – one of my favorite anecdotes was when a speaker asked the audience what the leading cause of divorce was. All the usual & expected standard answers came from the audience, but the speaker said they were all wrong. The leading cause of divorce was… unmet expectations. You can visualize the mind blown emoji here for how I felt in that moment. Of course – isn’t that essentially the reason any relationship fails?
To avoid the catastrophes that can develop from unmet expectations, be explicit about your expectations in your business – not only when it comes to how & when AI gets used, but about everything else really. Yeah – even which way the toilet paper gets put on in the office bathroom.
Best Practices for Entrepreneurs
Walking through these best practices can help you create your own set of guiding principles when it comes to how you use AI in your business.
In the next episode we’ll discuss some specific scenarios of using AI and when & how to disclose that AI was used.
Are you all in on using AI in your business, but need some hand-on expert help? Book 15-minutes with me at fieryfx.com/chat to get personalized guidance.
Like what you heard? Never miss an episode by subscribing and tune in to the next episodes.
