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Principle 08 · Before you share · Respect for the reader
AI-assisted work is edited for its reader before it’s shared: the point first, no longer than needed and with the author’s own judgment.
Key question
Would I want to receive this?
Benefit
Messages that get read and acted on, and colleagues who trust what they receive.
AI makes producing text nearly free, but reading it still takes time. When you forward unedited AI output, a colleague pays for it with their time and attention. Researchers at Stanford’s Social Media Lab and BetterUp call this workslop: AI-generated work that looks polished but lacks the substance to move a task forward. In their 2025 survey of 1,150 US employees, 40% said they had received some in the past month, and each case took them almost two hours on average to deal with.
Good AI-assisted work is easy to recognize. The point comes first, the text is as short as it can be, and it contains something only you could add: your judgment, the context or the decision you need.
Write for the person who will read it: their language, their expertise and what they need to do next. AI can help here. It can turn a dense policy into plain language, a transcript into readable notes or a chart into alternative text for people who can’t see it, and it can draft a summary for someone who reads your work in a second language. Check the result as you’d check any draft, especially names, numbers and anything promised.
An AI summary of a meeting becomes the record of what people agreed. Check decisions, owners and deadlines against what was said. A provisional date recorded as a firm commitment can cause more trouble than no notes at all.
A prompt before and after improvement, and the part a person does outside the prompt.
Writing
Before
The result sent straight to the sales team, all one page of it:
“Summarize this 40-page report.”
After
“Summarize this report for our sales team in five bullet points: what changed, what it means for our Q4 deals and one action. Maximum 120 words.”
Your part
Read the report’s own summary, check the five points against it and add one line with your view.
Why it works: Naming the reader, the purpose and the length gets a summary people will use.
Meetings
Before
“Summarize the meeting transcript.”
After
“From this transcript, list only the decisions, the actions with owners and deadlines as stated, and the open questions. Mark anything said as a possibility, not a decision.”
Your part
Check each decision and deadline against what was said, fix who said what, then send it with a line asking for corrections.
Why it works: Separating decisions from possibilities stops a provisional date from becoming a promise.
Customers
Before
“Write a reply to this complaint.”
After
“Write a reply of under 120 words to this complaint. Acknowledge the problem in one sentence, say what we’ll do and by when (refund processed within five working days), and give a named contact.”
Your part
Check the promise is one you can keep, and make it sound like you.
Why it works: A short reply with a specific promise and a named contact reads as care. A long generic apology reads as a template.
Agree simple norms: summary first, a length limit for common messages and a clear flag on drafts that still need review. Write them into your charter.
Team toolTeam AI charterWhat each source establishes, and its limits. The practices and recommendations on this page are ours, and the facts come from the sources. See every source we use.
Founderz (2026). Principle 8: Quality of AI-assisted work. The RUAI Standard, 2026 edition. Developed by Founderz in collaboration with Microsoft. https://responsibleai.founderz.com/toolkit/principles/quality-of-ai-assisted-work
Licensed under CC BY 4.0: share and adapt with attribution.