--- title: "Essential Guardrails for Associations and AI" id: "61235" type: "post" slug: "essential-guardrails-for-associations-and-ai" published_at: "2024-07-29T05:42:32+00:00" modified_at: "2026-07-11T18:06:24+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2024/07/29/essential-guardrails-for-associations-and-ai/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2024/07/29/essential-guardrails-for-associations-and-ai.md" excerpt: "Navigating the legal and ethical issues that AI presents means recognizing trouble spots and building guidelines around them." taxonomy_category: - "Operations" taxonomy_post_tag: - "Associations Now" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "Director" - "Executive Team" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Essential Guardrails for Associations and AI Part of the Deep Dive[The AI Revolution](https://associationsnow.com/deep-dives/the-ai-revolution/) Two of an association’s most essential assets are its information and its people, and AI is radically altering the role of both. What data does an association need to protect, and what roles do human beings play in monitoring and disclosing AI use? As a starting point, says Jeffrey S. Tenenbaum, managing partner of Tenenbaum Law Group, which works with associations, associations should set a clear policy around keeping private member data off of public-facing tools like ChatGPT. “Most machine learning platforms learn from everything that’s out there on the web, but they also learn from inputs that people put into the AI platform,” he says. “Once you put it in there, it might show up in someone else’s outputs.” Paid versions of these tools allow users to input data without that risk; even there, though, Tenenbaum recommends implementing a policy that sets guidelines around the contexts where the tool is used. One particular trouble spot is hiring. Because generative AI is based on information that’s available online, it’s also prone to the kinds of biases inherent in it. When screening resumes, an AI tool might favor candidates from one ethnic or racial group over another, or downgrade outliers; and when processing recorded interviews, AI tools may deliver poorer transcriptions of those with pronounced accents or speaking disabilities. “There’s a legal risk of employment discrimination, because AI platforms are trained based on everything that’s out there on the web, and we know that the internet has built-in biases,” Tenenbaum says. [Mark Athitakis](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/) Mark Athitakis, a contributing editor for Associations Now, has written on nonprofits, the arts, and leadership for a variety of publications. He is a coauthor of The Dumbest Moments in Business History and hopes you never qualify for the sequel. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/) Tags: [#Associations Now](https://associationsnow.com/tag/associations-now/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## More in this Deep Dive - [Prep Your Staff for the AI World of Work](https://associationsnow.com/2024/07/29/prep-your-staff-for-the-ai-world-of-work/) - [Tips for Adopting AI as a Content Partner](https://associationsnow.com/2024/07/29/tips-for-adopting-ai-as-a-content-partner/) - [Meetings Reimagined](https://associationsnow.com/2024/07/29/meetings-reimagined/) - [What’s Next for CIOs and AI](https://associationsnow.com/2024/07/29/whats-next-for-cios-and-ai/) - [Large Language Models as a Member Engagement Tool](https://associationsnow.com/2024/07/29/large-language-models-as-a-member-engagement-tool/) [View the full Deep Dive →](https://associationsnow.com/deep-dives/the-ai-revolution/) ## You Might Like - [PodcastAssociations Now Presents: Beyond the Tech Stack: How AI Is Changing the Association PlaybookOctober 29, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/29/associations-now-presents-beyond-the-tech-stack-how-ai-is-changing-the-association-playbook/) - [PodcastAssociations NOW Presents: Industry Partner Edition-Helping Associations Thrive in the Age of AIJuly 16, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/07/16/associations-now-presents-industry-partner-edition-helping-associations-thrive-in-the-age-of-ai/) - [VideoSkip the Search. 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