Dear Richard Madeley: ‘Can I still use AI at work even if it's been banned?'

Telegraph

10-04-2025

Dear Richard,
For about six months last year I often used ChatGPT to write reports and press releases at work. I'd give the resulting prose a read and a light edit before sending it on, but I was snowed under and I felt as if I had no choice. Now senior management has explicitly banned the use of AI software, after issues with accuracy. The trouble is, I've had a couple of pieces of work sent back for being too 'quirky' – the bland AI prose was what the bosses require, it seems. I'm also now incredibly busy, with all requests for more resource hitting a brick wall.
I'm not massively 'techy' but I can see an easy way I could continue to use AI and just make sure I didn't use company computers, servers, email accounts and networks until I was ready to submit a piece of work. The adult thing to do would be to talk to my line manager about this, but the ban has come from the top and I know it's going to be enforced. But I simply don't have the time (or, it seems, the ability) to do my work in the sort of 'AI but not AI' style that's being called for. And I suppose I don't want to cheat – or, to be cynical, get caught cheating. What's your take?
– Anon, via telegraph.co.uk
Dear Anon,
I have no doubts about what to advise. Steer completely clear of AI at work. Why? Two reasons.
One: you'll worry constantly about being caught out contravening a direct order from the top. It'll eat away at you every time you submit a report. You might as well take a daily pill from a bottle marked 'Anxiety'. Sure, you'll probably get away with it – for a while. Which brings me to…
Two: you WILL get found out. If an inaccuracy creeps in (which it will – the odd mistake is inevitable) and it's traced back to your use of AI, you could get the chop. Even if you just get a reprimand, your colleagues who aren't cheating won't be impressed. It's lose-lose, my friend.
That's what not to do. What you should do is go see your line manager. Explain that under the new rules you don't think you can handle everything in your in-tray. Ask for their advice. It sounds to me as if your work schedule has become undeliverable because your use of AI shortcuts made the impossible possible. Now that crutch is gone, a reappraisal is required.
Good luck. But don't be tempted to cheat. If you do, you won't prosper.