Off-Label AI: The Prescription Your Business Didn’t Write
If you’ve ever been prescribed a medication, you know the drill: see the doc, get a pill, feel better. But what happens when that little pill ends up fixing something entirely different from what it was intended for? That’s what we call "off-label use"—when medicine goes rogue, doing things it wasn’t originally prescribed to do (hello, little blue pill!). But this isn’t a medical column—it’s about AI in the workplace. And just like off-label prescriptions, AI has found its way into places we never officially approved.
Employees are Already Using AI—Even If You’re Not
Organizations today are scrambling to create policies around AI. But let’s be honest: even if your company is still tiptoeing around it, your employees aren’t waiting for a corporate memo. They’re already using AI tools to sharpen their emails, craft reports, and reclaim precious hours of their workday—whether it’s officially sanctioned or not.
Think of it as AI’s version of off-label use. Just because you didn’t write the script doesn’t mean people aren’t finding clever ways to apply it. If you don't believe me, well... let’s just say denial isn’t a corporate strategy.
When Social Media Was the Wild West
This isn’t the first time technology has slipped past corporate gatekeepers. Remember when social media hit the scene? Organizations didn’t know what to make of employees tweeting on their own time. Cue the mandatory trainings: “What you say on social media can follow you to work.” It felt revolutionary back then, but now, it’s just common sense. The same thing is happening with AI—it’s creeping into workflows, bringing both benefits and risks.
Social media, once unregulated and misunderstood, is now moderated within an inch of its life. We’ve come full circle, with policies dictating what we can and can’t say. AI is traveling that same road, and here’s a spoiler: if you’re not driving the conversation about AI in your workplace, someone else will.
Set Boundaries, Not Blockades
Here’s the thing: AI is here, like it or not. If businesses don’t set guidelines and establish best practices, employees will fill the void with their own rules—and not always the ones you’d prefer. We’re talking about data being fed into public AI tools, reports generated on autopilot, and decisions made with minimal oversight. Some of this off-label use can be wildly helpful. But some of it? Not so much.
What’s the solution? It’s not about banning AI—good luck with that—but about setting boundaries. Teach employees how to use AI responsibly. Tell them how to anonymize data and protect sensitive information. Even if your company doesn’t have a full-fledged AI strategy yet, a little guidance now can prevent big headaches later.
The Bottom Line
AI isn’t waiting for your organization to catch up, and neither are your employees. It’s time to stop pretending you can control everything from the top down. Instead, embrace the off-label reality of AI: empower employees to use it safely, smartly, and in ways that align with your company’s values. Because if you don’t give them a prescription for AI, trust me—they’ll write one themselves.
Let’s get ahead of this together. I’d love to hear your thoughts—join the conversation here on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-justin-hall/