AI Guidelines

At Automattic we’re always looking to add exciting new features that make our products and services even better. We’re particularly excited about adding artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to help unleash your creative potential, including generative AI that helps you create content and images. We know that AI, and particularly recently released large language models (LLMs), bring questions along with that excitement.

These Guidelines provide best practices for using AI, information on Automattic’s AI implementation (including our third-party providers and policies that you need to comply with), and helpful resources on AI safety. We’ll continue to update this page as we add new features and learn about AI along with you.

Using AI: Things to Think About

We hope you enjoy using our AI features to help you build your website, store, or business. There are some common issues you should be aware of when using AI systems, whether with Automattic or anywhere else:

AI output might be surprising or flawed. Due to the nature of AI, output could be inaccurate, offensive, biased, harmful, or just plain false. You’re responsible for any output you use, as if you were the original or sole creator, so you should always thoroughly review output before using it. For example, if you use an AI feature to help you write a description of a product you’re selling in your WooCommerce store, give it a read and edit to ensure it’s accurate! And keep in mind that the AI might not have been trained on the most current data; ChatGPT for example may have limited knowledge of more recent world events.
You still need to ensure that your website and its content comply with all applicable policies. While our AI features can help generate content, it will not review your site for compliance with applicable rules. You should review your site, including AI-generated content, carefully to ensure it complies with our Terms of Service and any applicable policies, like the WordPress.com User Guidelines.
Be thoughtful about what data you put in. Your input will be shared with third party AI providers and might be used to train their models, so you should think carefully before inputting any confidential or sensitive information. You can learn more below about how your input may be used by the third party AI providers that power our features (AI at Automattic: Third Parties and Usage Policies). And as always, any data you provide us will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
We don’t claim any ownership over the content you generate with our AI features. Please note that you might not have complete ownership over the generated content either! For example, the content generated by AI may be similar to others’ content, including content that may be protected by trademark or copyright; and the US Copyright Office is still figuring out when (or if) AI-assisted content should get copyright protection.
Please be transparent when you use AI-generated content. We strive to be thoughtful stewards of AI, so we believe it is always a good practice to clearly label what content is AI-generated. This is particularly important when it’s possible that someone could potentially be misled or harmed by the content.
Let us know if something isn’t helpful (or worse!). We’re constantly fine-tuning and enhancing these new and experimental features, so we’d appreciate your feedback. In some cases, you may be able to provide feedback within the product (👍/👎), but otherwise, please contact us.

AI at Automattic: Third Parties and Usage Policies

We use third-party software and systems to power some of our AI features. Currently, some of our AI features are powered by OpenAI. OpenAI has its own set of terms and policies that apply to your use of our features that utilize OpenAI, and you should review their terms and policies here. When using our AI-powered features, you must comply with OpenAI’s Usage Policies.

OpenAI does not use your input to train their models or improve their services, but please note that any data you provide as input will be sent to OpenAI and handled in accordance with their policies. We do not currently share with OpenAI any other data from your use of our AI features.

Please note that we could power features with new providers that have different practices regarding their use of input data. Please check this page for any updates.

Want to Learn More About AI?

AI is complex and moving quickly, and there’s plenty more to learn about it. Here are a few resources you might find helpful or interesting, or that have good tips on staying safe when using AI:

Center for AI Safety
What is AI and how will it change our lives? NPR Explains
8 Questions About Using AI Responsibly, Answered
How AI Knows Things No One Told It
The New Yorker’s Annals of Artificial Intelligence
The Verge: Artificial Intelligence
Electronic Frontier Foundation: Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
BBC News: Artificial Intelligence