By: James Edwards
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly common tool in workplaces, including nonprofit organizations. While AI offers significant benefits in efficiency and productivity, it also introduces security, privacy, and ethical considerations that organizations must understand.
What Is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence refers to computer systems designed to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. These tasks include learning from data, recognizing patterns, solving problems, and making decisions. Rather than following only rigid instructions, AI systems adapt based on the information they process.
AI works by analyzing large amounts of data using mathematical models. Through this process, systems learn patterns and improve their performance over time. Several key forms of AI exist today, including machine learning, deep learning, and large language models (LLMs). While Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—machines with human-level intelligence across all tasks—remains theoretical, current AI systems are already powerful enough to transform everyday work.
AI for Nonprofits
Nonprofit organizations often operate with limited resources, making efficiency especially important. AI can support nonprofits by automating routine tasks, improving communication, and freeing staff to focus on mission-driven work. When used thoughtfully, AI tools can enhance productivity without replacing human judgment or values.
In office environments, AI is commonly used to draft emails and documents, summarize meetings, organize schedules, and manage task lists. These tools can save time, reduce administrative burden, and help teams stay organized. AI can also assist with research, data analysis, and content creation, making it easier for nonprofits to communicate their impact and engage supporters.
Beyond office work, AI is increasingly used by individuals and staff in everyday contexts, such as brainstorming ideas, improving writing clarity, or quickly summarizing large amounts of information. These uses can be helpful, but they also require awareness of data protection and responsible usage.
AI Security Risks
Despite its benefits, AI introduces notable security and privacy risks. One of the most important concerns is how user data is collected, stored, and used by AI platforms. Many popular AI tools use conversations and prompts to improve their models by default.
For example, OpenAI’s ChatGPT may use prompts and responses for training unless chat history is disabled or temporary chats are used. Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Meta AI also have varying data-use policies, often relying on user interactions to refine their systems. While some platforms allow users to opt out of training or offer stronger protections in enterprise or paid versions, defaults may expose sensitive information if users are not careful.
Recent real-world AI issues have highlighted risks such as data leakage, misinformation, impersonation, and overreliance on automated outputs. These challenges make it essential for organizations to understand how AI tools handle data and where their limitations lie.
Staying Safe with AI
To use AI responsibly, nonprofits should establish clear and simple guidelines. Staff should never share private, confidential, or sensitive data with AI tools, including personal information, financial details, or internal documents. Unexpected or unusual AI-generated messages should always be verified, especially when they involve requests for action or information.
Using paid or enterprise versions of AI tools can offer stronger data protections, as these versions often exclude user data from training. Organizations should also look for clear indicators of data protection features and understand how each tool manages user information.
Safeguarding Data with Software and Policy
Beyond individual behavior, nonprofits can protect data by using security-focused software solutions. Some organizations are exploring local large language models (LLMs), which keep data on internal systems rather than sending it to external servers. Regularly maintaining and updating AI tools is also critical, as security improvements evolve rapidly.
Understanding data flow, regulatory requirements, and legal responsibilities helps organizations remain compliant and reduce risk. New security software—sometimes described as “antivirus for AI”—is emerging to monitor and protect AI usage, adding another layer of defense.
Conclusion
AI offers nonprofits powerful opportunities to improve efficiency and focus more deeply on their missions. However, these benefits come with real responsibilities. By understanding how AI works, recognizing security risks, and adopting thoughtful safeguards, nonprofits can use AI confidently, ethically, and safely in their everyday operations. Trust but verify. If you receive an odd email or phone call, always verify before giving personal information.
James Edwards is part of Merit Technologies in Greenville, SC. He presented this presentation to those at The ARP Center so that we could use AI safely in the workplace.