What do I tell my employer or my lawyer when they ask how I use AI?
Short answer: Hand over one plain page: which tools you use, where data sits, who has access, what is kept and what you never enter. Counsel decides what must be disclosed.
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What should you say when someone asks how you use AI?
Tell the truth in plain words, and put it on one page. Name the tools, say what goes into them, say who else can reach the data, and say what you never enter.
A short written answer beats a nervous talk in the hallway. It shows you have thought about it, and it gives the other person something to file. If you are asked in a formal setting, such as by a firm, a board or a client, read the request first and ask what exactly they want covered.
What goes on the one-page description?
Six short headings cover almost every request. Write two or three lines under each one, and keep it to facts you can check today.
- Tools: every AI app, plug-in and assistant you touch, including ones built into other software.
- Accounts: whether each one is a personal plan, a work plan or a setup you own.
- Data in: the kinds of material that go in, and the kinds that never do.
- Where data sits: which company or machine holds your prompts and the answers.
- Who has access: you, your assistant, your IT person, the vendor.
- What is kept: how long chats are saved, and how you delete them.
How do you find out what you actually use?
Check before you write, because people forget the small things. Open your browser history, your phone's app list and the settings of your email, calendar, notes and meeting tools. Many of them now carry an AI feature that may be on without you choosing it.
Then ask the people who work for you or with you. An assistant who drafts replies for you may use a tool you have never seen. Add it to the page. A list that is missing something is worse than a short list that is complete.
How do you describe where your data sits?
Say it by account, not by brand. For each tool, write whose account it is, what plan it is on, and where the vendor says it stores and uses your content. Read the current terms of the exact plan you use, because business plans often differ from personal plans, and terms change.
If you run a private setup in a cloud account you own, say so in one line: the account is yours, the keys are stored encrypted, and fewer companies hold your conversations. Do not say more than that. A private setup lowers the number of parties that hold your data. It does not replace strong passwords, access limits, backups and your own review.
What about the lawyer or the client asking?
Answer them with the same page, then let them tell you what else they need. A lawyer may care about client material and who sees it. A client may care about whether their files ever touched a shared service. An employer may care about trade secrets and company policy.
Do not guess at what the rules require. Whether a tool fits your duties, and what you must disclose and when, is a question for your own counsel or compliance officer. Bring the page to that conversation. For a firm context, see how private AI for law firms is framed, and for staff rules see what to put in a small business AI use policy.
What should you never say or promise?
Never say a tool is safe, never say it keeps anything privileged, and never say you are covered. You cannot know those things from a settings screen. Say what you did and what you checked.
Also do not hide a past mistake. If you pasted something you should not have into a shared app, say so early. Our page on pasting client data into ChatGPT explains why that question is worth asking before it happens again, and the consultants page covers keeping one client's material apart from another's.
What do you change after you hand it over?
Make the page true, then keep it true. If the page says you never enter a certain kind of file, build a habit that makes that easy, such as a separate account for sensitive work.
Review the page when you add a tool, change a plan or hire someone who uses it. Put a date at the top. A simple review every few months is enough for most people. If you want a person to set up and run a private assistant you can describe in a few lines, see the private AI setup service, or read the DIY guides to build it yourself. For a wider view of business use, see private AI for business.
What are the limits?
A good one-page description makes an honest conversation easier. It does not decide what you owe anyone, and the AI can be wrong, so you check every output before you rely on it.
This page is general information, not legal, medical, financial or tax advice. Ask your own counsel, compliance officer or adviser what you must disclose and to whom. More questions are answered in the private AI answers hub.
- Rules differ by employer, profession, client contract and place.
- A template cannot know your contract or your policy.
- Vendor terms change, so a page can go stale.
- Writing it down does not make a risky habit safe.
Questions
Do I have to tell my employer I use AI?
It depends on your contract, your employer's policy and your field. Read your policy and ask your own counsel or compliance officer if it is unclear.Should I put the description in writing?
Yes, in most cases. A dated page is clearer than memory, and it gives you something to update when your tools change.What if I used a personal account for work by mistake?
Say so early, stop doing it, and move the work to an account that fits your policy. Ask your counsel or compliance officer whether anything further is needed.Can I say my AI setup is secure?
Avoid that word. Describe what you did, such as separate accounts, access limits and backups, and let the reader judge.Who should review the page before I send it?
Anyone who knows the policy or contract it answers to. For disclosure questions, that means your own counsel, compliance officer or adviser.Related guides
- What should a small business put in an AI acceptable use policy?
- Private AI for law firms
- Is it safe to paste client data into ChatGPT?
- Can a consultant use AI on client work without breaking NDAs or mixing up clients?
- Private AI for your business, set up for you
- Done-for-you private AI setup service
- Private uncensored AI: the full guide
- All guides to getting your own private AI agent
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