Like many industries, the association management industry is inundated with continuing education and discussion topics around Artificial Intelligence (AI). These education programs mostly follow the same pattern. A fun, excitable presenter showcases a fast-paced carousel of programs designed to enhance our every interaction with members, from customer service to content-development, to marketing. The programs are slick, and you can always count on a couple laughs with a well-timed AI fail.
However, association leaders are hardwired for policies and it’s only a matter of time before the webinar’s chat or message board explodes around this topic. We all know what AI can do, but should we be doing it? How should we be doing it? That’s rarely the intent of these programs and the last one I attended devoted 20 seconds to this at the end, advising not to use these technologies without a policy in place.
At Association Acumen, we knew we needed to address AI use. Informal staff and client discussions revealed a wide range of experiences and comfort levels with AI. We launched an internal task force to explore the issue. But where to begin?
- You Don’t Need to Be an AI Expert
Emerging technologies can be intimidating, and general skepticism or outright distrust of AI platforms shouldn’t prevent policy development. Instead of focusing on the tech platforms or creating a punch list of “approved” programs, we focused on what we wanted to achieve with this policy. Our goals were to address:
- Appropriate AI application
- AI transparency, biases and ethics
- Responsible AI use
- Professional Resources – Look to your Network!
We turned to our professional networks and resources to educate ourselves on what others in the association space were doing about AI policy. We compiled examples and focused on what it was in each that applied to our goals. We looked at our existing policies around tech and data. Above all, we worked with a mindset that we did not want to stifle AI exploration but instead arm our staff team with the resources and knowledge to begin doing so safely and smartly.
- Continuing Education
Our AI policy went through several drafts, and as we debated edits, we made sure what remained was applicable to our goals. We started to embrace the uncertainty of AI and began to envision a series of staff continuing education and discussion topics around AI. With a policy in place, we can now explore emerging platforms with a better understanding of true potential and serious risk.
- Data Protection – A Top Priority
Association Acumen prioritizes data privacy and security. Sensitive information such as budgets and financials or board and executive committee minutes, contracts, etc. should not be uploaded to an AI tool.
While our policy will continue to evolve, it is serving as a powerful resource for our client teams who are having meaningful conversations with each other and their boards about AI risk and opportunities.