Overcoming AI Stigma: Ethical Use in Comms

Brock Damjanovich| Salt Lake County Office of Regional Development

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The Elephant in �the Room

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Does AI Cost Jobs?

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What is AI and What are its limitations?

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• AI can’t think. It’s simply well read.

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• Imagine a million monkeys on a million typewriters, except they’ve read a million books each and they recognize patterns.

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Let’s talk Ethics

Policy vs. Guidelines

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AI Policy: A binding set of rules and use cases that determine the maximum potential of AI for staff.

AI Guidelines: Best practices for using AI and how to do so ethically and professionally.

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⬅️Obligatory Office Reference, thank you for your patience.

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Creating an AI Guideline

Think of AI as your intern.

What safety measures are in place to ensure your intern isn’t acting irresponsibly?

• Don’t trust them with sensitive information (Data Governance)
• Double-check their work (Human Oversight)
• Take accountability (Transparency and Disclaimers)
• Watch for misinformed or ignorant products (Address Bias and Fairness)
• Get ahead of the AI conversation (Encourage Use)

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Guideline 1: Data Governance

• Assume all data placed into an AI system will eventually become public.
• Limit the use of PII (Personally Identifiable Information) placed into prompts and never use PII in publicly available systems.
• Information that is currently freely available to the public is an excellent basis for experimentation.

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Are AI Prompts subject to GRAMA?

Yes, they are! (At least according to the GRAMA pros at Salt Lake County and the State Archives).

�But aren’t they “drafts”?

Since you’ll likely use bits and pieces of generated text from throughout a conversation for the final piece it’s better to assume it would be subject.

Another reason that AI conversations could be subject to GRAMA would be if information that was used or published and it was incorrect, and the only source was AI and not fact checked.

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In that case, someone could ask to see all research regarding the subject, and you would then retrieve the transcripts.

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The easiest way to respond to the requests is to either download transcripts or print them out if necessary.

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Chat GPT also

features an option

to create a

“public link” which

can be shared.

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Is there someone listening to your meeting?

Food for Thought

When things get written down, they become GRAMA-able. This includes meeting notes, agendas, etc.

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If there is an AI notetaker for your meeting, that meeting (and any side conversations) just became GRAMA-able.

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Guideline 2: Human Oversight

• All AI systems with a potential for public exposure or the ability to affect decision making require human oversight.
• Systems have the potential to spread misinformation long after they become “trusted”.
• ALL AI outputs should be read, reviewed, and revised by humans.
• This means images and pictures.

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Common AI Mistakes in Writing

• Inaccurate and outdated information.
• AI can sometimes generate text that is incorrect or outdated, especially if it is not trained on a sufficiently large and up-to-date dataset.
• Lack of depth and personality.
• AI-generated text can often be shallow and impersonal, lacking the depth and personality of human-written text.
• Repetitive language.
• AI can sometimes repeat the same phrases or ideas over and over again, making the text sound choppy and repetitive.

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• Grammatical errors and typos.
• AI can sometimes make grammatical errors and typos, especially if it is not trained on a dataset of high-quality text.
• Lack of context or understanding.
• AI can sometimes generate text that is out of context or does not make sense, especially if it is not given enough information about the topic it is writing about.

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Houston, which is indeed a city that is located in the very large and expansive state of Texas, which is known for its large size and diverse economic opportunities, is often considered and frequently talked about as being one of the most superb places or locations for individuals, persons, or entrepreneurs who are in the pursuit of starting a small business, venture, or entrepreneurial endeavor…

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This is due, in part, to its vibrant, lively, and dynamic local economy, which is bustling, thriving, and flourishing, making it an ideal environment for the growth, development, and expansion of small businesses, startups, or new ventures…

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The city's supportive, encouraging, and favorable business climate, combined with its access to resources, assistance, and guidance, makes it a magnet for aspiring business owners, entrepreneurs, or startup founders who are dreaming, hoping, or wishing to commence their business journeys, ventures, or enterprises in a location that offers a wealth of opportunities for success, achievement, or prosperity…

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Oh and it offers a crazy good Small Business Owner Grant program that was just passed by the state.

Don’t look that up. Just trust me. I’m the expert here.

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Guideline 3: Transparency and �Disclaimers

What’s your opinion on providing AI disclaimers?

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• Never try to Pass off AI (especially images) as organic.
• This doesn’t mean it can’t be used. But don’t lie about AI use.

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Reminder that AI can’t do text ⬇️

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Guideline 4: Address Bias and Fairness

Be mindful of potential biases in the data used to train ChatGPT.

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Real World Examples:

• Healthcare- Underrepresented data of women or minority groups can skew predictive AI algorithms. For example, computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems have been found to return lower accuracy results for black patients than white patients.
• Applicant tracking systems - Issues with natural language processing algorithms can produce biased results within applicant tracking systems. For example, Amazon stopped using a hiring algorithm after finding it favored applicants based on words like “executed” or “captured,” which were more commonly found on men’s resumes.
• Online advertising - Biases in search engine ad algorithms can reinforce job role gender bias. Independent research at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh revealed that Google’s online advertising system displayed high-paying positions to males more often than to women.
• Image generation - Academic research found bias in the generative AI art generation application Midjourney. When asked to create images of people in specialized professions, it showed both younger and older people, but the older people were always men, reinforcing gendered bias of the role of women in the workplace.

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Source: https://www.ibm.com/blog/shedding-light-on-ai-bias-with-real-world-examples/

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Guideline 5: Encourage Use �Because they’re going to use �it anyway

According to the National Association of Counties (NACO):

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Source: NACo Tech Xchange Brief

16 Years

7 Years

4.5 Years

3.5 Years

2.5 Years

9 Months

2 Months

Chat GPT is the fastest-growing consumer app in internet history.

Benefits Include

• Shortening research time
• Helping developers to write more efficient running code
• Providing an automated way to write infrastructure routines
• Helping improve written communications
• Providing templates for policies, job descriptions, etc.
• Language translation
• Review permit applications
• Writing grant proposals
• Writing Speeches (in the VOICE of the person you’re writing for).

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Get ahead of the Conversation �(or start playing catch-up)

This might involve:

• Trainings
• Drafted policies/guidelines
• Presentations
• Showcasing use cases

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Some companies prematurely ban AI because the decisions were left to those without AI expertise or because of issues that they weren’t prepared to address.

Examples:

• Apple said AI could lead to a potential leak of confidential data
• Verizon announced that ChatGPT 'is not accessible from our corporate systems' in an effort to limit the 'risk of losing control of customer information' and source code
• Samsung announced it's restricting its employees from using ChatGPT after the company learned that some of its workers uploaded sensitive code to the chatbot

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-companies-issued-bans-restrictions-openai-ai-amazon-apple-2023-7#samsung-announced-its-restricting-its-employees-from-using-chatgpt-after-the-company-learned-that-some-of-its-workers-uploaded-sensitive-code-to-the-chatbot-5

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Common AI Q&A’s by AI Detractors

Q. Why have or pay for AI services, that’s what I pay YOU for

• AI allows employees to do massive tasks in minimal time. It’s a timesaver and a money saver.

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Q. If AI can do your job for you, why are you necessary?

• I wish AI was as simple to use as many believe it is. The fact of the matter is it takes intelligent prompts and a skilled hand to create good AI products and for it to even save time

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What other questions have you heard from your employer?

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Q. Will AI cost jobs?

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Will AI Replace the Workforce?

• No. You will not be replaced by AI. However, you could be replaced by someone willing to use AI.
• Imagine the same conversation but substitute it for a Calculator or the Internet.
• Those unwilling to change and adapt will always be left behind.

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QUESTIONS?

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The Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894

• A 1894 newspaper article from the Time of London that predicted in 50 years, “every street in London will be buried under nine feet of manure.”
• New York, which at the time was estimated to be the home of 150,000 horses, was targeted as well.
• The 15 to 30 pounds of manure produced daily by each horse multiplied by the number of horses in New York city resulted in more than three million pounds of horse manure per day that somehow needed to be disposed of.

Source: https://danszczesny.substack.com/p/the-great-horse-manure-crisis-of

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The Original “Side Hustle”

Urban streets were manure minefields so crossing sweepers stood on street corners and for a fee they’d clear a path for pedestrians.

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How was this crisis resolved?

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Cars. And that created many, many more jobs.

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