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AI work policies

These policies were donated to the RadHR resource library by Ethical Consumer Magazine. and AdFree Cities.

Both policies set out approaches to the use of AI tools in activist co-ops. Ethical Consumer Magazine’s policy identifies risks & opportunities and outlines permitted, limited and not permitted uses. AdFree Cities Policy aims to provide a flexible framework within which staff can make informed decisions about the use of AI tools and software and that any such use is accountable, transparent and responsible whilst ensuring workers are treated and paid decently, preventing bias and discrimination, and minimizing impacts on the climate and environment.

These policies are shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) licence. No changes have been made to the original copies. You can find more policies like these ones on other HR-related topics by visiting https://radhr.org/resources/policies/.

AI Policy by Ethical Consumer Magazine

Summary

Ethical Consumer, we believe technology should serve people and planet, not exploit them. The
rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) raises urgent ethical concerns: from mass data
extraction and surveillance, to labour rights violations, environmental damage, and the
entrenchment of corporate power.

Our stance:

  • We reject AI systems that exploit workers, communities, or ecosystems.
  • We will not blindly embrace AI – our approach will be critical and we’ll only use it where
    we are sure of its benefits.
  • We oppose technologies that deepen inequalities or erode accountability.
  • We continue to prioritise human-led research and writing.
  • We reject the prioritisation of frictionless efficiency, and appreciate the value of slow
    learning and human analysis.

We use AI tools cautiously and critically, always guided by our values. Where AI undermines our
mission, we will resist.

Ethical Consumer exists to imagine and build a fairer economy, including aligning with degrowth
principles. AI, like any tool, must be judged on its practice, not on its promise.

Please note this AI policy is subject to change as new research emerges, technology evolves
and our understanding deepens. We reserve the right to update this page at any time.

Purpose

This policy sets out Ethical Consumer’s position and approach to AI across our publishing,
campaigning, research, and organisational work.

Definition

For the purposes of this policy, “AI” refers to machine learning and generative systems (e.g. text,
image, video tools) that automate or augment human tasks.

Risks identified

  • Labour exploitation: hidden workforces are often paid below living wages.
  • Environmental costs: massive energy and water use of large-scale data centres powering
    AI models.
  • Bias and inequality: reinforcement of systemic discrimination in datasets and outputs.
  • Corporate capture: concentration of power in a handful of tech giants, undermining
    democratic control.
  • Misinformation: potential to suppress truth and to erode trust and truth in public discourse.
  • Deskilling: outsourcing writing and critical thinking skills.

Opportunities identified:

  • Faster Research: AI could help us process external corporate reports more efficiently.
  • Database Enhancement: AI could analyse trends offering new insights to readers.
  • Process mining: AI could help us refine internal resource allocation and identify bottlenecks.
  • Admin: AI could help with automations, translations and supporting accessibility.

Ethical Consumer stance

  • We will not adopt AI uncritically and we will resist AI applications that conflict with our
    mission of social and environmental justice.
  • We may experiment with limited, transparent use of AI tools where they support our work
    without undermining our values.
  • Where we do use AI it will always have human oversight.
  • We will prioritise open-source, ethical, and worker-friendly tools wherever possible.
  • We reject AI systems that conflict with our mission of creating a more ethical economy. This
    may mean campaigning against specific models, ownerships or approaches and for robust
    regulation too.
  • We will only use AI as a support tool not as a substitute for human authorship.
  • We will always disclose if AI is used in producing finished content.
  • We will fact-check all AI outputs against reliable human sources.
  • We will consider environmental impact before extensive use.

Accountability & review

  • This policy will be reviewed annually to respond to emerging risks and debates.
  • Coop members and board members can raise concerns about AI use at any time.
  • We will publish updates on our approach to AI to remain accountable to our members and
    community.

Permitted

  • Spellcheck, grammar, and readability checks.
  • SEO assistance.
  • Admin assistance.
  • Data merging, translations and background research checks.
  • Speech-to-text/text-to-speech transcriptions for accessibility requirements.

Limited/Conditional

  • Generating limited marketing copy drafts.
  • Assisting in data analysis of large datasets.
  • Background ideation for creative projects (never final content).
  • AI tools integrated into third party software that ECRA uses except where it contradicts
    ECRA’s overarching AI stance.

Not Permitted

  • Writing finished articles or editorial content.
  • Generating AI images, video, or audio for publication.
  • Resharing AI images, video, or audio for publication (where they are labelled as being AI).
  • Deciding scores, final ratings, or “Best Buy” recommendations.
  • Any use that risks replacing human editorial judgement.

AI policy by AdFree Cities

 

Introduction

We recognise that AI tools and software are now widespread and will only become more so in coming years. There is already a disparity between those who have readily adopted AI in their work and those who are more reticent. It is important for us to understand the potential applications of AI to our work and the potential benefits and drawbacks of these in order for us to make informed decisions.

We also recognise that AI is more than a set of tools. Like any technology it is situated in networks of power, the current foci of which are major tech corporations whose motivations and intentions are not necessarily aligned with social, economic or ecological justice. Adfree Cities exists to challenge corporate power and systems of oppression. Any use of AI in our work should clearly align with our mission, not that of the tech industry.

This policy aims to provide a flexible framework within which staff can make informed decisions about the use of AI tools and software and that any such use is accountable, transparent and responsible whilst ensuring workers are treated and paid decently, preventing bias and discrimination, and minimising impacts on the climate and environment. It is not intended to provide a blanket “yes” or “no” answer to whether we use AI.

This policy will be communicated effectively to all staff. Staff will commit to making best efforts to adhere to the policy in all aspects of their work.

Who is this policy for?

This policy applies to all Adfree Cities staff, contracted or freelance. Some elements also apply to our work with external partners.

Adfree Cities’ work – in both substance and scale – means that many of the debates around the use of AI do not particularly apply. For instance, using an AI chatbot in service delivery. This policy should therefore be reviewed regularly and updated accordingly as the field of AI progresses.

Roles and responsibilities

Adfree Cities has no designated digital security manager or data protection officer. Accordingly it is the responsibility of all members of staff to uphold this policy in their own work and the work of colleagues.

Overarching principles

Accountability and responsibility: Staff using AI tools will remain accountable and responsible for any work or decisions made using or influenced by those tools.

Transparency: Any use of AI in our work will be made clear both internally and externally.

Fairness and non-discrimination: AI tools have all been trained on publicly available data that is in many cases inherently biased against marginalised groups. We will not use AI in ways that replicate historical bias or discrimination.

Non-displacement of human labour: We will (where practical) not use AI to perform tasks that we would previously have commissioned a human to do. Examples include large pieces of translation, or graphic design.

Reliability and accuracy: We recognise that AI outputs are liable to be inaccurate or unreliable and we will always fact-check any outputs before using them in our work. We will aim to only use those AI tools which we know to be and have experienced to be accurate and reliable.

Trust: We will use AI in ways that allow us to maintain trust with the community we support.

Data protection: We will not input sensitive or personal information into AI tools and always prioritise the protection of personal information above any perceived benefits of using AI tools.

Environment and climate: AI relies on the processing of vast amounts of data, which in turn requires vast amounts of energy, much of which is provided by fossil fuels. The energy demand of AI data centres is rapidly growing and could be responsible for as much as 246 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2035.

Mission: Any potential benefits to productivity of using AI must be weighed against all the above and the overall impact on our mission in its widest sense.

Policy context

This policy overlaps and intersects with relevant areas of law as well as several other Adfree Cities policies:

What is AI and how does it apply to our work?

The term AI can apply to a wide suite of technologies and is not easy to define exactly. Some forms of AI, like predictive text, are familiar to us, whereas other forms, like voice modulation, are not. Similarly, some uses of AI are more readily applicable to our work whereas others are not.

Below is an attempt to capture some of the broad categories of AI that currently exist and that we might encounter in our work or that of external partners.

Type of AI use Applicability to our work Pros Cons
Administrative assistant
e.g. note taking, drafting an email, Auto-filling a website like Eventbrite		 High Potentially time-saving. Accessibility tool. Note taking can be a useful exercise in itself for focusing attention. Security risk and ethical concerns.
Administrative assistant
e.g. ZOOM AI attending a meeting on your behalf, Google Gemini 		 Low due to data protection concerns and general staff dislike of these products. Time-saving. Accessibility Lazy. How will it be received by others in the meeting? Privacy concerns (e.g. if something confidential discussed on the call)
Language generative
e.g. using ChatGPT for idea prompts		 High Can be useful for idea generation, overcome “writers’ block” Can lead to stale or boring ideas. Lowest common denominator. Lazy, brain rot. Normalising the use of AI for creativity.
Language generative
e.g. Using ChatGPT to draft funding proposals (see Appendix 2)		 High Fills a skills gap in the team. Speeds up the fundraising process. Enables more funding applications to be written and sent. Potential for inaccuracy. Could lead to us (unwittingly) making spurious applications.
Creative generative
e.g. using DALL.E or ChatGPT for image generation		 Medium Fast image generation e.g. an image needed for a blog. Cheaper than commissioning something. Potentially takes work from an artist or creative and risks condoning this wider trend. AI images are notoriously unreliable e.g. 6 fingers, lack of diversity.
Creative generative
e.g. Using Opus AI to create a video or Speechify to alter speech		 Very low due to ethical concerns Good if you want to churn our content Misleading, creepy, energy-intensive. Normalising or condoning a tool that is largely used for extremely un-ethical purposes.
Data analysis
e.g. Asking ChatGPT, CoPilot or Claude AI for a document summary (a report, rather than an internal document)		 High Fast summarising of a document. Pulls out key points. Speeds up research. Accessibility. Quick translation. Puts it in the language and style needed for different audiences e.g. MPs. Avoids plagiarism as other’s content is re-written Needs fact-checking anyway. Brain rot. Using translation services takes this work away from a person.
Large scale data analysis
e.g. Using machine learning like Dataro or Sprout to analyse social media data and trends.		 Very low as we don’t work at a large enough scale for this to apply. Can lead to insights that inform future work. Requires technical expertise to do at scale.

Using AI in practice

As noted, the purpose of the document is not to provide a “yes” or “no” answer to the use of AI in our work, but rather to provide guidance on how we can use AI should we choose to.

Below is a kind of “flow chart” of guiding questions that should be answered by any staff member or contractor when considering using AI in their work. Each question is designed to mitigate the risk of acting contrary to the overarching principles above.

  1. What kind of AI are we talking about?
    1. Refer to the table above for pros and cons and Appendix 1 for a list of available AI tools.
    2. Is this a tool you’ve used before? Do you require additional training or upskilling in order to use it responsibly?
    3. Have we done due diligence on the AI (reading terms and conditions, reading user reviews) to ensure it uses ethically sourced data and that it has been tested for bias?
  2. What do we want to use it for? What is the intended outcome (e.g. ideas, draft, final product)?
    1. Is this an area where a high degree of trust is required / expected? AI is notoriously unreliable and may not be the best tool for the job.
    2. How will the output be reviewed for bias?
    3. How will the output be reviewed for accuracy and reliability?
    4. How will the output be received by our audiences and supporters?
  3. Is it helping our working or doing it for us?
    1. Could we do this work otherwise and what are the implications of that (cost, time, accessibility etc.)?
    2. Are we taking work from someone else (e.g. we would historically have commissioned someone to do it)? Remember the mantra “AI for tasks, not jobs”.
  4. Are we likely to mislead (our audience) by using AI?
    1. Is any use of AI transparent and auditable? If any AI generated content is included in externally-facing work, are we making that clear?
    2. Copyright infringement: always run a reverse (image) search on any outputs.
  5. What data are we inputting into the AI?
    1. Personal information is any data that could identify someone. This includes names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. It also covers things like photos, medical information, safeguarding information and financial details.
    2. Have you read the AI tool’s terms and conditions regarding use of data?
    3. How will you manage data use and storage? E.g. deleting chat history on ChatGPT; Microsoft CoPilot automatically deletes data every 24 hours.
  6. Does this use of AI advance our mission and support our vision and values?
    1. Do the negative climate impacts offset any benefits?

AI use by external partners and collaborators

This policy only applies internally within Adfree Cities. At times we may work in partnership or collaboration with others, or to contract others, who choose to use AI in ways that do not align with this policy.

In such instances we should make clear our approach to AI with the external partner, including sharing this policy, at the earliest opportunity. In general, we will not knowingly support or commission the use of AI where we could employ a human professional. See also our Ethical Procurement Policy.

All staff working with external partners, collaborators and contractors are required to perform due diligence in this regard.

Appendix 1

A non-exhaustive list of available AI tools and software. A much longer list can be found on this Tech Radar review.

  • Open AI ChatGPT: Large Language Model. Unless you specifically turn it off, the data that you share with ChatGPT is used to train its future models, with possible unintended consequences. chat.openai.com
  • Microsoft Copilot: Large Language Model productivity tool integrated into Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365) applications. It deletes data overnight. copilot.microsoft.com
  • Claude AI: Large Language Model similar to CoPilot & ChatGPT. claude.ai
  • Open AI DALL·E 2: can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language openai.com/index/dall-e-2 (integrated with ChatGPT paid)
  • Synthesia: Creates videos with AI avatars and voiceovers. synthesia.io
  • Pi by Inflection AI: An AI “personal assistant”. pi.ai
  • HeyGen: For video production, AI-generated avatars and voiceovers. heygen.com
  • Speechify: Converts text to speech with a wide range of voices and languages, (enhancing accessibility). speechify.com
  • Opus AI: AI-driven video editing optimized for social media. opus.ai
  • Canva’s Magic Studio: A range of AI-powered creative tools inside Canva. canva.com/magic/
  • Fireflies: AI meeting assistant that transcribes conversations, captures insights, and automates tasks from meetings. fireflies.ai
  • Perplexity AI: AI-powered search engine. perplexity.ai
  • Superwhisper: A voice-to-text app that works offline. superwhisper.com
  • Dataro: integrates to a CRM to analyse donor data. dataro.io

Appendix 2: Guidance on use of AI

Whether using AI or not, it is always better to be informed. Staff training on the uses and abuses of AI is therefore encouraged.

Further reading and watching:

How to write a prompt for ChatGPT, CoPilot etc.

The below is copied from an AI policy template from Platypus Digital.

  1. Set the stage: Give the AI a specific role to play. For example, “You are a very experienced fundraising consultant with 30 years of experience in getting grants from UK trusts and foundations.”
  2. Be clear and specific: Clearly state what you want the AI to do. Break down complex requests into smaller, manageable tasks.
  3. Provide context and examples: Give relevant background information and, if possible, good examples of the kind of output you’re looking for (or bad examples).
  4. Avoid vague or overly broad requests: These can lead to unfocused or generic responses.
  5. Iterate and refine: Don’t settle for the first response. Follow up with more specific questions, ask for clarifications, or request modifications to get exactly what you need. This iterative process often leads to much better results than accepting the initial output.
Example of a bad prompt: Why it’s bad:
“Help me with fundraising.” – It’s vague and lacks specificity.- It doesn’t provide any context about the type of fundraising you need or the organisation you need it for.- It fails to give the AI a specific role or task.- It doesn’t include any background information or examples.
Example of a good prompt:
“You are a very experienced fundraising consultant with 30 years of experience in getting grants from UK trusts and foundations. Our small charity focuses on providing after-school tutoring for primary age children in London. We need to raise £50,000 to expand our program to two new schools. Can you provide a step-by-step guide on how to identify and approach potential grant-giving foundations that might support our cause? Please include tips on crafting a compelling grant proposal.”

About the author

Ethical Consumer Magazine is an independent, not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder co-operative with open membership, founded in 1989 and based in Manchester, with workers in the Manchester area and around the UK. Ethical Consumer’s primary goal is making global businesses more sustainable through consumer pressure.

AdFree Cities is a network of groups across the UK who are concerned about the impacts of corporate advertising on our health, wellbeing, environment, climate, communities and the local economy. We lobby for policy change at national and local levels, showcase alternatives, organise locally to stop new advertising sites in UK cities, and produce resources to raise awareness about the impacts of commercial advertising.

These resources were donated to RadHR’s policy library. RadHR is a space where groups and organisations invested in building a fairer and more equitable society can come together to share the nuts and bolts—the policies, processes, practices and stories—of how we organise ourselves based on our values. They are a free, open, and collaborative resource built by community groups, mutual aid organisations, cooperatives, activist groups and voluntary sector organisations interested in finding ways of working together that help us look after each other and challenge the power structures we find in the wider world.

You can find more policies like these ones on other HR-related topics by visiting https://radhr.org/resources/policies/.

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