Workplace Adoption of AI Prompts Liability and Labor Disputes, Legal Experts Warn

China News Service reported that many employers actively encourage workers to utilize artificial intelligence tools to enhance everyday workplace efficiency. However, risks such as AI hallucinations, data leaks, and copyright infringement have emerged, which can trigger labor disputes and difficult liability determinations whenever work errors occur. Assistant Professor Zhou Yuan of Beijing Institute of Technology Law School stated that inputting unmasked information containing customer privacy or financial data into third-party public models can cause trade secret and data breaches. Additionally, AI-generated images, code, or copywriting induced by improper prompts could violate third-party intellectual property rights. Professor He Ping of Wuhan University of Technology Law School warned that employees must avoid uploading core secrets, non-public data, classified documents, or personal information. Staff should retain institutional notices, training rules, operational prompts, and authorization records as dispute evidence. Zhou suggested that authoritative guidance or model cases should be issued promptly, establishing clear judicial standards for defining gross negligence that causes major employer damage while balancing systematic tool risks against employee review failures.

In Beijing, Chaoyang District People's Court ordered an insurance firm to continue the labor contract of an employee, Ms. Wu, who had been dismissed for processing company documents with an AI tool recommended by leadership, and directed the company to pay missing bonus and wage compensation.