More employers need to clarify how and to what extent they are happy for their staff to use artificial intelligence, a lawyer has warned. GenAI – such as ChatGPT – is increasingly being used to improve efficiency and manage workloads by taking on tasks in businesses and organisations across almost every sector.

But, Kate Wyatt, a Partner in employment law at independent Scottish legal firm Lindsays, says the pace at which artificial intelligence is being deployed in workplaces is not being matched by the way its use is controlled. She said: “From our experience, highly regulated areas of work are actively controlling how employees use AI.

“More generally, however, there are organisations where the use of AI – particularly GenAI – hasn’t been thought about fully and its use is managed on an ad-hoc basis.

“As we all know, GenAI use has become normalised. But the measures that employers really need to take in order to set out the parameters for its use are not yet embedded.

“I am surprised that more employers are not being proactive in dealing with this issue.

“Failing to establish clear guidelines on when and how employees can use GenAI not only creates uncertainty but also exposes organisations to risk in many different ways. That may include quality and reputation, but also legally, for example over ownership of generated work.”

The legal insight has been shared after Bank of Scotland’s latest Business Barometer found that more than half (52%) of Scotland’s company leaders believe AI will drive local economic growth.

Of the firms that responded to the survey, 61% said they were using AI. Common uses include improving efficiency (59%), analysing data and making better-informed decisions (31%) and process automation (31%).

While the risks and rewards of using GenAI differ from industry to industry, Lindsays’ employment lawyers – working predominantly with SMEs and charities – are not seeing a consistent and proactive approach to dealing with its use.

Ms Wyatt said: “From what we are seeing, employers are not really taking proactive steps to control its use by employees.

“There are, of course, contract terms and policies in standard use which cover IT and confidentiality, for example – and there is advice available about standard use of GenAI – but there’s a question mark over whether this goes far enough.

“Clients are querying how much unauthorised use of GenAI is happening in workplaces, including staff deciding to use it individually to save time. In that respect, many employers may not be aware about the use of GenAI in their organisations.

“Even for those with robust IT use policies, employees may not realise when they are crossing the line in their use of the technology. It’s important that everyone understands the boundaries.”

Bank of Scotland’s Business Barometer found that just over a third (39%) of Scottish businesses plan to invest more in AI over the next year, with 34% of non-adopters planning to use it for the first time.