Let's talk about the practical rules and safety guidelines for using AI at Emerson. These generally apply to staff using AI in their day-to-day business work, but the principles are relevant to everyone.
AI can help you brainstorm, summarize, draft, and analyze, but it shouldn't do your job for you. That means you should not fully draft, approve, and send communications without your input and oversight. Do not let AI attend meetings you weren't in. And do not use it to substitute for job duties that require your judgment.
Do not enter personally identifiable information, confidential college data, or sensitive information such as passwords into any AI tool — even the supported ones.
For Emerson-managed tools like Gemini and Notebook LM, your conversations are private and not visible to Emerson administrators. But that still doesn't mean you should submit restricted data. If AI contributed substantial original language or ideas — in other words, content you wouldn't have been able to produce without it — disclose it. If you used AI the way you'd bounce ideas off a colleague, such as for brainstorming or refining your own writing, no disclosure is needed.
Finally, use reputable tools. Stick to vetted platforms. If you or your department wants to adopt a new AI tool for broader use, please submit it to IT Security and Procurement for review, just like any other application. For more, review the full standards guide on our support site.
When is disclosure of AI use required for staff at Emerson?
A. Only when using unsupported tools like ChatGPT
B. Any time you open an AI tool, regardless of how you use it
C. When AI contributed substantial original language or ideas you couldn't have produced on your own
D. Disclosure is never required for internally managed tools like Gemini
The answer is C. If AI contributed substantial original language or ideas — content you wouldn't have been able to produce without it — you should disclose it. If you used AI the way you'd bounce ideas off a colleague, such as brainstorming or light editing, no disclosure is needed.
Which of the following is always prohibited, even when using Emerson's supported AI tools?
A. Using AI to help brainstorm or draft communications
B. Entering passwords, personally identifiable information, or confidential college data
C. Asking AI to summarize a long meeting agenda
D. Using AI to suggest edits to your own writing
The answer is B. Entering passwords, personally identifiable information, or confidential college data is prohibited in any AI tool — even Emerson's supported tools like Gemini and Notebook LM. The enterprise agreement provides privacy protections, but that doesn't make it appropriate to submit restricted data.