Responsible AI Principles

How to use this document

• What it is for. This is the short, top-level statement of how [ORGANIZATION NAME] understands responsible AI. Every later AI policy, procedure and decision derives from it and must be consistent with it.
• Who should own it. Management approves and signs it; the AI lead maintains it. If there is no AI committee (Basic level), the AI lead and management perform its functions; enter the person in [OWNER].
• Decisions to take first. Before adopting it, decide whether to keep all eight principles or merge some (Section 3), which red lines are non-negotiable for your business (Section 5), who resolves conflicts between a business objective and a principle (Section 6.3), and whether you will publish the principles externally (Section 8).
• Fields to complete. Replace the bracketed fields, such as [ORGANIZATION NAME], [AI COMMITTEE], [AI GOVERNANCE EMAIL] and [REVIEW FREQUENCY]. Keep [OPTIONAL] clauses only if they apply and delete the tag when you keep them.
• Country variants. This document has no country variants. The principles are deliberately general; country-specific obligations belong in the detailed policies. Use "Related regulatory references" to see which standards and guidance inform these principles.
• Make them your own. Principles work when people recognize them as theirs. Adjust the examples in Section 3 to your industry and review the text with representatives of the teams that use AI most.
• Review. Have counsel review the red lines and Section 6, especially if you operate in a regulated industry or the public sector.
• Approval and publication. Have executive leadership approve and sign it (aid G), record the approval in "Version history," publish it on the intranet and, if you decide to, on your website, and present it to staff together with basic AI training.

Responsible AI Principles

Field	Value
Organization	[LEGAL ENTITY NAME]
Owning function	[RESPONSIBLE FUNCTION]
Document owner	[OWNER]
Approved by	[APPROVED BY]
Effective date	[DATE]
Review frequency	[REVIEW FREQUENCY]
Contact for questions	[AI GOVERNANCE EMAIL]

1. Purpose and scope

1.1 [ORGANIZATION NAME] uses artificial intelligence to serve its customers better, work more efficiently and create value. We want to do so in a way that earns the trust of the people it affects: customers, staff, candidates, partners and society at large.

1.2 This document sets out the principles that guide every use of AI in the organization. They are the starting point for our AI policies and procedures and the standard we apply to cases those rules do not anticipate.

1.3 These principles apply to:

a) every AI system the organization develops, buys, integrates, configures or uses, including generative AI tools and AI features included in software already licensed;
b) every stage of its lifecycle: idea, design, procurement, testing, deployment, operation, change and retirement;
c) everyone acting on behalf of the organization: executives and employees, interns, contractors and vendors to the extent their contract provides.

2. Definitions

• AI system: a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers from the input it receives how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment.
• High-impact use: a use of AI that can significantly affect a person's rights, opportunities, health, safety or access to services; for example, in hiring and workforce management, credit, insurance, education, health care, biometrics or access to benefits.
• System owner: an identified person or function accountable for the operation, outputs and controls of a specific AI system.
• Affected person: anyone about whom an AI system produces outputs or whose decisions it influences, even if they do not use it directly.