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AI use policy template

A one-page AI policy for your staff, filled in from a few answers about your business. Copy it, download it as a text file or print it.

What is an AI use policy?

An AI use policy is a short set of written rules for how staff use AI tools at work. It names the tools people may use, lists the information that never goes into them, and says who checks AI work before a customer sees it. Most small businesses fit it on one or two pages. It sits beside the rules you already keep for passwords, customer records and payments.

Does a small business need an AI use policy?

Yes, once more than one person uses AI tools for work. Without written rules, each person decides alone what to paste into a chatbot, and one pasted customer record or password becomes a problem for the whole business. A written policy also gives every new hire the same rules on their first day, and gives the owner one answer to point to when someone asks whether they may use a tool.

An owner who works alone can skip the signed document. The rules about customer data and checking AI answers still apply.

What should a small business AI policy cover?

Eight parts cover most small businesses:

Purpose. Who the policy applies to and what it protects.
Approved tools. The AI tools staff may use, on business accounts.
What never goes into an AI tool. Passwords, customer personal data, payment data, confidential client information and unreleased financials, plus the rules for your industry.
Checking AI output. Names, numbers, quotes and dates, checked against a source you trust, and one named person who approves work before it goes public. The post on how to check an AI answer before you use it walks through each check.
Disclosure. When to tell customers that AI helped write something they rely on.
New tools. Who approves a tool before anyone uses it for work.
Training. How staff learn the rules and sign the policy.
Review date. When the owner reads the policy again and updates it.

Your business details

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Your AI use policy

This template is general information and not legal advice. If your business works in health care, law, finance or another regulated industry, have an attorney review the policy before you adopt it.

AI use policy

Policy owner: the business owner

1. Purpose
This policy sets the rules for how everyone at our business uses AI tools for work, including employees, contractors and owners. It protects the information customers trust us with, keeps our work accurate, and tells everyone which tools they may use and how.

2. Approved tools
No AI tools have approval yet. Ask the business owner before you use any AI tool for work.
Use the business account for each tool, never a personal account. Where a tool lets the provider train on your chats, turn that setting off. A tool missing from this list needs approval first, as section 6 explains.

3. What never goes into an AI tool
Never type, paste or upload any of the following into an AI tool:
- Passwords, login codes and API keys.
- Customer personal data of any kind, such as names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and account details.
- Payment data, including card numbers and bank details.
- Confidential client information that a client shared with us in trust or under an agreement.
- Financial results we have not released, such as sales figures, pricing plans and forecasts.
- Private details about staff, such as pay, health and performance reviews.
If you are unsure whether something belongs on this list, leave it out and ask the business owner.

4. Checking AI output
AI tools can state a wrong fact in the same confident tone as a right one. Before AI-assisted work reaches a customer or the public, the person who used the tool checks four things against a source they trust:
- Names of people, products, businesses and places.
- Numbers, including prices, phone numbers, measurements and totals.
- Quotes, traced to where the person said or wrote them.
- Dates, including deadlines and any date tied to a law or a price.
The business owner then reads and approves the work before it goes public. The person who sends it stays responsible for what it says.
A step-by-step guide to the four checks: purcellventures.co/blog/check-ai-answer-before-using

5. Telling customers about AI
When AI drafted most of something a customer relies on, such as instructions, a quote, a report or advice, we tell the customer that AI helped write it and that a person checked it. A chatbot on our website or in our messages says it is a bot. A message sent under a person's name is one that person read before it went out.

6. Approving new tools
The business owner approves every new AI tool before anyone uses it for work, including AI features added to software we already use. To ask for a tool, send the business owner its name, what you want to use it for and which plan it needs. The business owner checks how the provider handles our data, and adds each approved tool to section 2.

7. Training
Everyone who uses AI tools for work reads this policy and signs it before first use. The business owner walks each new hire through it in their first week and tells all staff when the policy changes.

8. Review date
The business owner reviews this policy every six months, and sooner when we add a tool or a law that affects us changes. The first review falls six months after the effective date.

Acknowledgment
I have read this policy and I agree to follow it.

Name: ______________________________
Signature: _________________________
Date: ______________________________

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Template from purcellventures.co/ai-policy-template. General information only, and not legal advice. A business in a regulated industry should have an attorney review this policy before use.

Common questions

Is this AI policy template free?

Yes. The template and the generator are free to use, with no account and no email. The policy text belongs to you once you fill it in, and you can edit it however you like.

Does the generator store or send what I type?

No. The policy builds in your browser as you type. Nothing goes to a server, and closing the tab clears the form.

Is this template legal advice?

No. The template is general information for small businesses. Health care, legal, financial and other regulated businesses have extra rules, so have an attorney review the policy before you adopt it.

How long should a small business AI policy be?

One or two pages covers most small businesses. Staff read and follow a short policy. Add detail only where your industry or your customers need it.

Should employees sign the AI policy?

A signature gives you a record that each person read the rules. The template ends with a signature line for that reason. Keep the signed copies with your other staff records.

How often should I update the AI policy?

Review it every six months, and sooner when you approve a new tool or a law that affects your industry changes. AI tools add features often, so a policy older than a year usually misses something.

Can staff use free AI accounts under this policy?

The template asks staff to use a business account for each approved tool. Business plans of the major AI tools give an owner admin controls and different data terms from personal accounts. If you approve a free plan, turn off the setting that lets the provider train on your chats.

Who built it

I am Elijah Purcell, Founder/CEO of Purcell Ventures LLC in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I train small business teams to use AI tools and build AI software for them. The AI for small business guide covers safe first tasks, checking AI answers and telling customers about AI. For help setting up the tools and the policy with your team, the consulting page explains how sessions work.