Basin Electric unveils new AI policy

The Basin Electric Artificial Intelligence (AI) working group unveiled an AI policy on July 18 that outlines the cooperative’s principles and guidelines to ensure that AI systems are used in a manner that aligns with our core values and respects the rights and well-being of employees and its member-owners. 

Carol Ellwein, Basin Electric manager of Organizational Change Management, said, “initially the team just wanted to learn more about AI and the technology behind it, and to research benefits of how Basin Electric could use it going forward.” 

With the emergence of generative AI and rapid advancements in AI systems, having an AI policy in place became a priority. The AI policy provides a framework for what’s considered ethical use of the technology. For example, the policy identifies things for employees to watch out for regarding confidential or personal data, how to research output to avoid sharing biased or unfair data, and the importance of reviewing data output generated by AI to ensure accuracy. 

“The AI policy is focused on data security,” Paul Mindeman, senior energy systems administrator, said. “There is always a risk when using this technology, and we want people to know this.” The policy guidelines provide ways on how to avoid risk. 

Now that the policy has been released, the next step is educating employees about proper usage of AI. “Educational opportunities will be shared with employees in a variety of ways including email communications, Knowledge Bytes sessions, and trivia games,” Ellwein said. 

With the policy in place, the AI working group plans to move forward with more research and development. “What are the beneficial uses of AI? How can we make Basin Electric’s operation more efficient? Those are a couple areas of focus for our team,” Mindeman said. 

Additionally, alongside the AI policy, ChatGPT usage guidelines are being developed and will be released next month. 

Ellwein and Mindeman are part of a group of seven people who make up the AI working group. Andrew Milas, Basin Electric supervisor of compliance and GIS applications, James Scheitel, Basin Electric Enterprise database administrator III, Jonathan Tischmak, Basin Electric cyber systems security specialist II, Tyler Herman, Basin Electric Enterprise application architect II, and Tim Hyslop, Basin Electric senior Enterprise systems administrator, are also on the team.