Personal AI Tools
Not provided by HCC
Using ChatGPT, Claude, and other personal tools
These tools are open to anyone. Some work in a browser without an account at all. HCC does not license, purchase, support, or reimburse them, and has no agreement with the companies behind them.
You can use them. Here is how to do it sensibly.
What people use them for
| Tool | Often used for | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Writing, brainstorming, coding help, general questions | Free version. Paid version available |
| Claude | Long documents, writing, coding, working through problems | Free version. Paid version available |
| Perplexity | Searching with sources and links you can check | Free version. Paid version available |
| Grammarly | Grammar, spelling, and writing style | Purchased individually |
Listing these is not a recommendation of one over another. It means you may use them, within the limits below.
Fine to do
- Use them for your own learning, writing, and projects.
- Use them for work involving information that is already public.
- Use them to think through a problem, as long as you describe it without HCC details in it.
Do not do
- Paste in HCC information. That includes ordinary internal things, not just protected records. Drafts, internal notes, and plans that are not public yet all stay out.
- Paste in anything about a real person, or anything involving money. No exceptions in these tools.
- Use them when an HCC tool would be the right choice. If the work involves HCC information, use Gemini or Copilot instead.
- Say HCC reviewed or approved what came out. We did not.
Why the line is here
When HCC provides a tool, there is an agreement covering how your information is handled and what happens if we ask for it to be deleted.
With a tool you signed up for yourself, the only agreement is the one you clicked through. HCC cannot ask that company to delete anything, and cannot check where the information went.
The quick test
Would you email this to someone outside HCC? If not, do not paste it into a tool HCC does not provide.
A few practical notes
- HCC does not pay you back for a subscription to any of these.
- The IT Service Desk cannot help you with them. Support comes from the company.
- They are not installed or set up on HCC computers by IT.
- Anything they produce is still yours to check before you use it.
One exception
A few AI services are not allowed at all, even on your own device, when you are doing HCC work. See AI tools that are not allowed.
These guidelines follow HCC Board Policy CRB(LOCAL) 101506.