AI Use Policy

How and when I use AI

All long form content on this website and on my social media accounts (Instagram, YouTube, Substack) is written by me. AI is more than ChatGPT and I do use tools such as Castmagic to create transcripts from trainings and podcasts and to pull out quotes and create posts to share.

AI technology is here to stay and I believe in embracing it to support us as solo-business owners without compromising the integrity of being the truest expression of ourselves and our humanity. 

AI does not replace our own skills, knowledge and experience and I will continue to learn and educate myself in my own fields of interest and expertise, and to share and teach content that is based on my own learning and experience.


Accordingly I have put in place a detailed policy to ensure that myself, contractors and collaborators, clients and students of my business have clarity on how we are using AI. 

My intention is always to be mindful of how AI is used in my business (and life); I will continue to write using my own words, and I will embrace AI to support me, contractors and collaborators, clients and students. 

Purpose of the AI Policy

  1. Mitle Southey (we, our or us) is excited by the opportunities for innovation and efficiency offered by the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) models and tools. We intend to incorporate these tools into our organisation’s operations in a safe, ethical, and legally compliant manner, to enable us, our Contractors and Collaborators, and other stakeholders (e.g. our clients) to obtain maximum benefit from new and established AI technologies.

  2. Mitle Southey has implemented this AI Policy to help us to achieve the above. The Policy sets out which AI tools and models may be used within our organisation, how they may be used, and by whom.

  3. Any questions in relation to this Policy should be referred to Mitlé Southey in the first instance via email at mitle@mitlesouthey.com.

Mitle Southey’s Use of AI

  1. We allow and encourage the use of AI tools and models by our Contractors and Collaborators (including Virtual Assistants, Guest Teachers and Experts), but only Permitted Uses of Permitted Tools and Models by Permitted Users (as defined below).

  2. Our Permitted Tools and Models are the particular AI tools or models that Mitlé Southey has considered and approved as safe and legally compliant for use within our business when used in accordance with this Policy. They are:

    1.  ChatGPT by OpenAI.

    2.  Castmagic.

    3.  Canva AI Tools by Canva.

    4.  AI Outline Generator by Thinkific.

    5. Zoom AI Companion

  3. If any Contractor or Collaborator believes that approving a certain additional AI tool or model (i.e. one that is not included in the list above) for use within our organisation would be beneficial for the business, and that it could be used in a safe, ethical and legally compliant manner, they should contact Mitlé Southey to communicate their suggestion. Their suggestion will be considered by Mitlé Southey and, if Mitlé Southey agrees with the proposal, the tool or model will be added to the list of Permitted Tools and Models above (via an update or an addendum to this Policy).

Permitted Uses of Mitle Southey Permitted Tools and Models

  1. The Permitted Tools and Models may only be used for the following Permitted Uses:

    1. ChatGPT may be used to create meeting notes, summaries, scripts and blog posts from transcriptions.

    2. Castmagic and ChatGPT may be used to create podcast transcriptions, summaries and written content.

    3. ChatGPT, Canva may be used to create social media posts from blog posts, articles, course material, other resources already created.

    4. Thinkific AI may be used to create course outlines, information and sales pages.

    5. ChatGPT may be used to brainstorm content ideas and topics.

    6. Zoom AI Companion may be used for transcripts of trainings, conversation summaries, idea organisation, and message creation.

  2. If a Permitted User wants to use a Permitted Tool or Model for a use other than one of the Permitted Uses set out above, they should propose this use to Mitlé Southey, who will evaluate the proposal and, if they approve it, grant permission for the suggested use via a written confirmation.

How Permitted Uses should be Carried Out

  1. Permitted Uses of Permitted Tools and Models may only be carried out by Permitted Users. Our Permitted Users are:

    1. Mitlé Southey.

    2. Virtual Assistant Team.

    3. Guest Teachers

  2. Whenever a Permitted User carries out a Permitted Use, they must be aware that any output generated by AI tools or models may be inaccurate. This includes information purported to be factual, e.g. legal, medical, or technical advice. This applies regardless of media, i.e. whether the output is textual, graphic, audio, or of any other form. AI-generated output should never be taken to be true or accurate and Permitted Users should always check the accuracy of any purported statements, facts, or representations before using these to inform or contribute to their work in any way.

  3. Whenever a Permitted User is planning to carry out a Permitted Use, they must consider whether the AI tool or model used may have been trained on, reflect, and/or via its output perpetuate any biases (e.g. systemic biases that discriminate against particular groups of people). If any potential for incorporation of such of bias exists, a Permitted User must consider:

    1. Which biases may be present; 

    2. The potential impacts of their using the relevant AI tool or model in the planned way (e.g. whether decisions may be made or advertisements targeted in a manner that reinforces an existing privilege held by a social group);

    3. How such biases and/or their effects may be mitigated by the Permitted User; and

    4. Based on the points above, whether the planned Permitted Use can be carried out in a way that does not risk harm to anybody and which will not constitute discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. If they cannot be confident that it can, they should not carry out the planned Permitted Use or should first seek advice from Mitlé Southey.

  4. Permitted Uses should always be carried out in accordance with the terms of any particular licences (e.g. software licences) or agreements (e.g. user agreements) that allow and/or govern the use of Permitted Tools or Models when such licences or agreements are held by or apply to either Mitle Southey Global Ltd or individual Staff Members. If a Permitted User is in any doubt as to what any such licences or agreements require, they should contact Mitlé Southey and request further information. A non-exhaustive list of the licences and agreements applicable to our Permitted Tools and Models, for Permitted Users’ reference, can be found in the Appendix of this Policy.

  5. Whenever a Permitted User uses an AI tool or model, they must do so in accordance with all laws relevant to the specific use. These may include, but are not limited to:

    1. Advertising and marketing laws and regulations;

    2. Laws dealing with defamation, libel, and slander; 

    3. Anti-discrimination laws; 

    4. Privacy and data protection laws; 

    5. Laws restricting the disclosure of confidential information; and 

    6. Intellectual property laws.

  6. Permitted Uses should always be carried out in accordance with relevant governmental and other industry-standard regulations, sets of guidance, and codes of practice. These include, but are not limited to:

    1. The Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO’s) guidance on AI and Data Protection

  7. Additionally, when using a Permitted Tool or Model for a Permitted Use, a Permitted User should always:

    1. use AI as a tool to support their work and NOT to generate whole blog posts, articles, courses, social media posts..

    2. use any content created by AI as a "first draft' only and edit any content created based on your own learnings and experience..

    3. do their own research into a topic and NOT use AI to research articles, blog posts or other content.

    4. be aware that there are many issues around AI inaccuracies, misinformation and plagiarism and be mindful of how you use AI at all times. .

  8. A Permitted User must obtain approval before using any AI-generated output that they’ve created in a way that communicates this output outside of our organisation. For example, before publishing the output online; including it in materials for publication or packaging or promotion or similar; or sending or showing it to clients, collaborators, or other third parties. Approval should be obtained from Mitlé Southey.

  9. A Permitted User must obtain approval from Mitlé Southey before using any AI-generated output that they’ve created in a way that may impact the composition or operation of Mitle Southey Global Ltd’s products, platforms, or other technical foundations. For example, before any code created by an AI tool is incorporated into any of our existing code.

  10. When requesting any approvals required under this Policy, a Permitted User should communicate what the relevant generated output is, its purpose, and any additional considerations (e.g. the outcome of fact-checking carried out and consideration of potential biases that may be represented in the output).

  11. At any point if, while carrying out or planning to carry out a Permitted Use, a Permitted User is uncertain as to how to do so in a risk-averse manner and in compliance with this Policy and with the law, they should not hesitate to contact Mitlé Southey to discuss their questions or concerns.

Contractors and Collaborators Obligations

  1. Contractors and Collaborators must only use AI within our organisation in accordance with this Policy. They must comply with all provisions and must seek assistance via the identified contacts if uncertain on any point. The relevant use of AI should be paused until any such uncertainties are resolved.

  2. Contractors and Collaborators should actively participate in any and all training provided or organised by Mitle Southey that is relevant to AI and the use of AI tools and models. If any aspects of any training are unclear to a Contractor or Collaborator, it is the their responsibility to raise these concerns with Mitlé Southey.

Mitle Southey’s Obligations

  1. We are committed to implementing and facilitating the productive, ethical, and compliant use of AI technologies within our organisation. As such, we are committed to upholding this Policy and to supporting Contractors and Collaborators to ensure that they can adhere to its provisions.

  2. Additionally, we will monitor and regularly evaluate how AI is used within our organisation. For example, we will investigate and analyse:

    1. How our organisation’s use of AI complies with the law and with any relevant guidance or codes of practice; 

    2. Any systemic biases that our use of AI tools and models and their output may be influenced by and which we may perpetuate; 

    3. Whether AI tools and models used within our organisation are being used in accordance with this Policy (e.g. by analysing whether any inaccuracies are being identified).

  3. Monitoring and evaluation are the responsibility of Mitlé Southey.

Training

  1. Mitle Southey will provide any training on the use of AI in the workplace that’s necessary to make sure that Contractors and Collaborators can comply with the requirements set out in this Policy.

  2. Training will cover (but is not limited to), where appropriate:

    1. Defining AI and explaining how different types of models (e.g. large language models) work; 

    2. The various areas of law that impact how AI may be safely and compliantly used, for example, data protection, intellectual property, privacy, defamation, and advertising and marketing law;

    3. How AI can be used in a safe and ethical manner. For example, Contractors and Collaborators should be aware of how AI may inadvertently be used to discriminate against individuals as prohibited by the Equality Act 2010; and

    4. The specific licences and agreements that Mitle Southey and its Contractors and Collaborators are subject to in relation to their use of AI within our organisation, including the requirements imposed by these, how these should be complied with, and provisions on ownership (e.g. ownership of intellectual property).

Intellectual Property

  1. Generally, any intellectual property rights created by or arising in works created by any of Mitle Southey Contractors and Collaborators in the course of their contract will be the property of Mitle Southey, unless alternative provisions are made in law or in individual Contractors and Collaborators contractual arrangements with us (e.g. consultancy agreements). This includes any intellectual property rights that a Contractor or Collaborator holds in any output created by an AI tool or model that the Contractor or Collaborator was responsible for creating (e.g. which was created by an AI model in response to parameters entered by the Contractor or Collaborator) in the course of their employment.

  2. Staff Members should be aware that they (and/or Mitle Southey) may not always hold all intellectual property rights existing in AI output that they were responsible for creating. Ownership of any intellectual property may depend on:

    1. The relevant AI tool’s or model’s user agreements or licences that apply to the user in relation to the use made of the tool or model. For example, the provisions within such agreements dealing with intellectual property ownership; 

    2. Any pre-existing intellectual property rights in the output created, whether the works in which the rights exist were input into the tool or model as training data, as user input, or not at all; 

    3. The terms of any licences or agreements governing the use of the model’s or tool’s training data; 

    4. Any other factors impacting intellectual property ownership, for example, existing licence agreements, previous disputes, or rules on different types of intellectual property rights.

  3. Bearing in mind the above, Contractors and Collaborators must take care not to infringe the intellectual property rights of any other individual or organisation when:

    1. Sourcing or using an AI tool or model; 

    2. Contributing to training any AI tools or models; 

    3. Inputting data of any kind into any AI tools or models; or 

    4. Receiving and using the output of any AI tools or models.

  4. In particular, Contractors and Collaborators should be careful not to use the output of any AI tool or model in a way that infringes any other party’s intellectual property rights. They should be aware that:

    1. AI tools and models may have been trained on content containing intellectual property rights belonging to others and such data may have been used without a valid licence for this use; and

    2. Even if training was carried out in accordance with a licence, publication of the tool’s or model’s output or of content containing such may not be covered by the provisions of the licence.

  5. Therefore, Contractors and Collaborators should always:

    1. Comply with the terms of any relevant licences, including intellectual property licences granted to them, to Mitle Southey, or to another party but which via further licences or agreements they are covered by (e.g. user agreements for relevant AI tools or models);

    2. Use AI tools and models in accordance with their terms of use and similar and in accordance with this Policy; and

    3. Contact Mitlé Southey for assistance if they are unsure whether a particular use of given output is likely to constitute intellectual property right infringement.

Data Protection and Privacy

  1. All uses of AI within our organisation must be carried out in accordance with the UK’s data protection laws, including the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

  2. No personal data (i.e. information about an individual from which they may be identified) belonging to anybody, including customers, Staff Members, and members of the public, should be input into any Permitted Tool or Model unless express approval to do so in the manner and for the purposes in question has been obtained beforehand from Mitlé Southey. Such approval will only be granted when the proposed use is in reliance on a legitimate basis for processing (e.g. it is with data subjects’ consent) and in accordance with other data protection principles (e.g. this processing is necessary and appropriate for the relevant purpose).

  3. Permitted Users must consider whether any AI-generated output they receive and use contains (or could contain) any personal data belonging to anybody. This applies regardless of whether or not a Permitted User input any personal data into the relevant AI tool or model themselves to generate this output. If output contains personal data or it is unclear whether it does or not, this output should not be used any further by the Permitted User who was responsible for generating it unless and until approval for such use is granted by Mitlé Southey.

  4. Additionally, Permitted Users should always comply with Mitle Southey Global Ltd’s other policies and procedures relevant to data protection and privacy, including our:

    1. Privacy Policy.

Protection of Confidential Information

  1. Contractors and Collaborators must take care when using any of Mitle Southey confidential information as input into or to inform input into any AI tool or model. If any restrictions on the AI tools or models into which confidential information may be inserted are imposed in this Policy or otherwise (e.g. by line managers), these should be observed.

  2. If any AI-generated output contains Mitle Southey confidential information or if our confidential information could be extrapolated from the output, this output should not be communicated outside of our organisation (e.g. via publication or communication to a client) without prior approval from Mitlé Southey.

  3. If a Contractor or Collaborator has access to any confidential information belonging to a partner, collaborator, subsidiary, employee, or similar of Mitle Southey, the rules set out within this section, above, also apply to this information. Further, such information must only be used in accordance with any agreements governing the exchange and use of such information (e.g. any collaboration agreements, purchase or investment agreements, or non-disclosure agreements).

Attribution

  1. This AI Policy was created using a document from Rocket Lawyer.

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Appendix - Licences and Agreements Relevant to Mitle Southey’s Use of the Permitted Tools and Models

The following list refers Permitted Users to licences and agreements that may affect how they are permitted to use the Permitted Tools and Models. Please note that this list is non-exhaustive, and any other applicable licences or agreements introduced in relation to Permitted Tools and Models (e.g. by their owners) will also apply. 

 

Relevant licences and agreements: