Tools and Resources

Legal Guidance [Updated October 2026]

Practice Areas Expertise Chart

Designed for legal professionals and UC staff, the Legal Expertise Chart serves as a guide to navigate the complex legal landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) across diverse areas, including privacy, intellectual property, discrimination, due process, and contract law. By mapping potential university activities to pertinent legal frameworks, laws, regulations, and guidance from federal and state agencies, this dynamic resource provides timely links to regulatory updates, best practices, and case law. It is an essential tool to support informed AI use and thorough risk assessment within the rapidly evolving AI policy environment.

AI Alert

The University of California's Legal Alert on Artificial Intelligence Tools provides essential guidance for UC on the legal and ethical use of AI technologies. Aimed at university administrators, legal counsel, and compliance officers, this document highlights key considerations such as data privacy, output reliability, and the necessity of prior review for commercial AI tools. It underscores the importance of treating AI tools with the same diligence as any third-party service, ensuring adherence to UC's policies on procurement, privacy, and data security. 

Statement of Awareness on AI

Promote AI savviness in your department with this easy-to-read one-page Statement of Awareness on AI that briefly reinforces some of the risks associated with AI, highlights the red flags UC staff and faculty should be aware of, and steps to take to mitigate risk. 

Responsible Artificial Intelligence: Recommendations to Guide the University of California’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy

In August 2020, UC President Michael Drake and former UC President Janet Napolitano formed the Presidential Working charged with developing overarching principles and recommendations for UC’s current and future use of AI. 

The interdisciplinary group was composed of 32 faculty and staff from all 10 UC campuses. Over the course of a year, they developed the UC Responsible AI Principles in conjunction with a Final Report detailing guidance on strategies to operationalize the principles across four high-risk AI domains: health, human resources, policing, and student experience.

The UC Artificial Intelligence Risk Assessment Guide [2025]

The UC Artificial Intelligence Risk Assessment Guide is designed to help UC community members evaluate both the risks associated with using artificial intelligence in administrative settings and whether their intended use aligns with their location’s risk tolerance. The Guide connects AI-related risks to UC’s Responsible AI Principles, and aids users in identifying both aggravating and mitigating factors for each risk. Additionally, the Guide incorporates concepts and concerns developed within UC and by public sector leaders, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the United States Government Accountability Office. To help users gather information from suppliers about the risks associated with their products and practices, the Guide includes an appendix with key questions to ask during the procurement process. An initial assessment, or shortened version, of the UC AI Risk Assessment Guide is also available here.

Users are encouraged to use the Guide to reassess risks throughout the AI system's lifecycle, at regular intervals, or when considering an AI model for different purposes or data. The Risk Assessment Subcommittee will continue to develop and adapt the Guide to reflect emerging best practices for managing the risks associated with AI and enable UC to adopt responsible AI with greater agility.

To provide feedback on the Guide, please complete this brief survey.

UC Health Data Governance Task Force Report and UC Health News on the Role of Nurses

The University of California issued the UC Health Data Governance Task Force Report (June 27, 2024), which lays out actionable systemwide recommendations for the safe, equitable, and transparent use of patient health data. Guided by principles of justice, accountability, and collaboration, the report outlines a justice-based model for data use, establishes a Health Data Set Access Repository to track data-sharing agreements, and presents updated, systemwide Data Sharing Guidelines. It emphasizes patient and community engagement through education, transparency, and representative governance, ensuring marginalized voices shape decisions that impact them. By proposing robust structures—such as a patient-informed council and governance frameworks that span bioethics, AI, legal, and technical expertise—the report sets a clear path for operationalizing responsible data stewardship across UC Health. Together, these measures affirm UC’s commitment to harnessing data to advance healthcare innovation while upholding ethical accountability and public trust.

In this article, UC Health spotlights how nurses across the health system are shaping the responsible use of AI in clinical care. From easing documentation and reducing cognitive load to integrating protocols across systems, AI tools are helping nurses spend more time at the bedside. UC nurses serve on review and advisory committees that vet new technologies for safety, equity, transparency, and patient privacy. Pilot efforts—from predictive documentation in EHRs to voice-enabled “conversational care”—show how frontline nurses are writing a new chapter in health care.

The UC AI Council Executive Summary FY 2023 - 2024

The UC AI Council has made significant strides in promoting responsible AI use across the UC system during the 2023-2024 period. Building on the foundation of the 2021 UC Responsible AI Principles, the Council has focused on integrating these principles into UC operations, fostering ethical AI development and deployment, and enhancing transparency around AI use.

To view an executive summary of the deliverables of the AI Council and its three constitutive subcommittees, please click here.

AI Glossary

The AI Glossary ensures the UC community - students, faculty, and staff - have a common understanding of key AI terms and concepts to foster clear communication, reduce misunderstandings, and support more effective collaboration in developing and deploying AI. It also aids in demystifying complex AI topics, making them more accessible to non-experts, which is crucial for informed decision-making and ethical AI use across various academic and administrative functions.