Overview
The tools arrived before the rules — close the gap
AI assistants reached most workplaces the same way personal phones did: quietly, one member of staff at a time, long before anyone wrote a policy. They now draft emails, summarise documents, transcribe meetings and screen job applications — and each of those uses carries a risk someone has to manage: confidential data pasted into public tools, plausible-sounding errors sent to clients, and decisions about people quietly shaped by biased systems.
This course closes the gap. Written for everyday staff rather than technical specialists, it explains what AI tools genuinely do and where they fail, the acceptable-use rules that keep organisations out of trouble, how data leaks through prompts and uploads, why every AI output needs a human check before it is used, and where the Equality Act meets AI-assisted recruitment and HR decisions. The final module turns all of it into daily habits under your organisation’s AI policy — or good practice if that policy is still being written.
The course is fully online and self-paced — most people finish in one to two hours, with twelve months’ access from enrolment. Pass the closing assessment and your CPD-certified certificate is generated straight away: documented evidence that your people have been trained on responsible AI use.
Fully Online
1–2 Hours
All Staff · Non-Technical
What you’ll learn
What you’ll be able to do
By the end of this course you will be able to:
Explain in plain terms what workplace AI tools do, and the main ways they get things wrong.
Follow acceptable-use rules: approved tools, approved purposes, and the risks of “shadow AI”.
Recognise how confidential and personal data leaks through prompts, uploads and connected tools.
Apply UK GDPR thinking to AI use — what you can and cannot put into an AI tool.
Check AI output properly before it is used, sent or published — accuracy, tone and confidentiality.
Identify bias risks when AI assists recruitment, appraisal or other decisions about people.
Know when AI use must be disclosed, and when a task should not be delegated to AI at all.
Apply your organisation’s AI policy day to day — and raise concerns when something looks wrong.
Course content
Six modules to work through
Each module ends with a knowledge check. Work through the modules in any order and return to the content at any time during your twelve-month access window.
1AI at Work: What It Is and Why Policy MattersA plain-English tour of workplace AI — and why organisations are writing rules for it.⌄
- What generative AI and AI assistants actually do
- Where AI is already in your working day — often invisibly
- The real incidents driving workplace AI policies
- The regulatory backdrop: ICO, UK GDPR and the Equality Act
- Why “I didn’t know” is not a defence for you or your employer
2Acceptable Use of AI ToolsApproved tools, approved purposes — and the problem with shadow AI.⌄
- Approved vs unapproved tools: why the distinction matters
- “Shadow AI” — personal accounts and unvetted apps at work
- Tasks AI is suited to, and tasks it must not be used for
- Company accounts, settings and data-retention differences
- Asking before adopting: how to get a new tool approved
3Data Leakage and ConfidentialityHow confidential data escapes through prompts — and how to stop it.⌄
- What happens to the text you paste into an AI tool
- Customer data, personal data and UK GDPR obligations
- Commercially sensitive information and trade secrets
- Anonymising and minimising before you prompt
- Uploads, integrations and meeting-transcription tools
4Accuracy, Hallucinations and Human OversightAI output is a draft, not an answer — checking before you use it.⌄
- Why AI generates confident nonsense — and can’t tell you when
- Checking facts, figures, names and citations
- Tone, brand and audience — the checks beyond accuracy
- Accountability: the human who sends it owns it
- When AI use should be disclosed to clients or colleagues
5Bias and Fairness in AI-Assisted DecisionsRecruitment, HR and customer decisions — where AI bias becomes discrimination.⌄
- How bias gets into AI tools — and why it’s hard to see
- AI in recruitment: screening, ranking and advert targeting
- The Equality Act applies to AI-assisted decisions about people
- Meaningful human review — what it actually requires
- Questions to ask before relying on an AI recommendation
6Your AI Policy in PracticeTurning the rules into everyday habits — and what to do when something goes wrong.⌄
- The core elements every workplace AI policy shares
- Everyday scenarios: what would the policy say?
- Reporting AI incidents and near-misses
- Good practice where a formal policy is still in development
- Keeping up as tools and rules change
Who it’s for
Is this course a good fit?
Anyone whose work touches an AI tool — which now means almost everyone in an office. No technical background is needed.
All office staff
Anyone drafting, summarising or researching with AI assistants.
HR & recruitment
Teams using AI for screening, job adverts or people decisions — the highest-risk area.
Marketing & communications
Staff producing AI-assisted content that goes out under the company name.
Customer service
Teams using AI drafting and summarisation with customer data.
Managers & team leaders
Those accountable for how their teams use AI day to day.
Onboarding & inductions
Ideal alongside data protection training for every new starter.
Assessment
How it’s assessed
The course is assessed by a single online multiple-choice test taken at the end of the modules. It can be retaken as many times as you need at no extra cost.
End-of-course assessment
Study details
You can pause and resume at any point — your progress is saved automatically. There is no time limit on the assessment itself.
Certification
Your CPD-certified certificate
AI in the Workplace — CPD Certified
On passing the assessment, your CPD-certified digital certificate is available to download and print immediately, with your name, the course title and completion date. For employers, it evidences that staff have been trained on responsible AI use — increasingly asked about in client due-diligence questionnaires, tenders and insurance renewals. Because AI tools and rules change quickly, we recommend annual refresher training.
Instant download
Due-diligence ready
Refresher recommended annually
FAQs
