JIBC’s New AI Guidelines: Using AI Responsibly

AI tools are increasingly part of how we work, teach, and support the people who rely on JIBC. To help everyone use them well, JIBC’s AI Guidelines will be published on June 12. They set out what responsible, safe AI use looks like here — so you can approach these tools with confidence and clarity. 

AI is already part of teaching and learning at JIBC, supported by clear guidance from the Centre for Teaching, Learning & Innovation (CTLI) for instructors and from the Library for students. These institutional AI Guidelines build on that foundation and extend it — setting consistent, responsible-use expectations across the whole organization, including the administrative and operational work that those teaching-focused resources were not designed to address. The goal isn’t to discourage AI use, but to make sure it’s done in a way that protects you, our students, and the communities we serve. 

What the guidelines cover 

At their heart, the guidelines come down to a few straightforward commitments: 

• Use AI responsibly and transparently, in line with our privacy, professional, and legal obligations. 

• Keep a human in the loop. AI can be confidently wrong — treat its output as a first draft, never a final answer, and verify anything that matters. 

• Be careful about what you put in (see below). 

The full guidelines go into more detail and will be worth a few minutes of your time. Look for them here on June 12: AI Usage Guidelines. 

The habit that matters most 

Many of us already use a personal AI tool — such as a free ChatGPT account — to help with everyday tasks. These tools can be genuinely useful, and this isn’t about asking you to stop. But personal tools haven’t been reviewed by JIBC, so the responsibility for what goes into them sits entirely with you. That makes one question the most important habit to build: what do you put in? Anything you enter is sent to the tool’s provider and may be stored or processed outside JIBC. 

A simple test before you paste anything in: Would I be comfortable if this information were overheard in a public hallway? If the answer is no, it doesn’t belong in an AI tool. 

Never enter: 

• Personal information about students, staff, or members of the public (names, IDs, records, contact details) 

• Confidential or strategic institutional information 

• Justice, operational, or partner-agency information 

• Indigenous, community, or culturally sensitive information (JIBC is developing how it handles this in partnership with the Office of Indigenization; until that work is complete, it must not be entered) 

What’s still ahead 

Publishing these guidelines is one step in a larger effort. A cross-functional working group is developing JIBC’s broader approach to AI governance — including how new systems are reviewed and onboarded, and how access to them will be defined. We’ll share more as that work progresses. 

Questions? 

Contact mfabri@jibc.ca. For privacy-specific questions, contact ddeacon@jibc.ca.