AI at Omni

Responsible. Ethical. Impactful

We believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds tremendous potential to enhance the quality, efficiency, and equity of research, evaluation, and capacity building services.

We also recognize that AI tools must be matched with intentional, responsible, and transparent use. That’s why we began to develop clear, values-based approaches to AI use at Omni in 2023, and have continued to refine them, both internally and with our clients, as the technology has developed.

Why We Use AI at Omni

At Omni, we view AI as a tool that enhances the expertise of our team to:

Streamline routine tasks so our staff can focus on the deeper, more strategic thinking that drives impact.
Increase equity and accessibility by identifying and removing bias, simplifying complex information, and reducing jargon.
Push us to look at challenges through different lenses, test new perspectives, and generate fresh ideas that strengthen our approaches to challenges.

How We Use AI at Omni

In early 2023, Omni created an internal working group that began creating policies and testing use cases to understand how best to incorporate AI into our work. Through this early and intentional experimentation, we developed a values aligned approach to ensure AI use is:

Ethically governed by housing AI policy and process within our Ethics Best Practice Team
Continuously monitored through our AI working group and best practice team leaders
Human-centered to support and enhance human-thinking, not replace it
Client-aware and tailored to meet the standards, needs, and contract requirements of each individual client engagement

As a mission-driven organization, we know that pushing our field forward starts with holding ourselves accountable—and staying open to growth.

For our project staff, AI use is guided by a clear ethical use policy grounded in six key principles:

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Equity

AI should be used to detect and reduce bias and jargon while enhancing accessibility. Explicit prompts like “how might bias appear here” or “write this from a more inclusive perspective” can counteract systemic bias and actually bring inclusivity into AI.

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Transparency

We are transparent with AI use. We document and share our uses, data sources, and methodologies, both internally and with clients.

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Privacy

Our use of AI strictly adheres to privacy laws and ethical research standards to ensure we protect sensitive or personal data.

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Humanity 

AI should never replace human judgment. Our experts guide all key decisions and review all AI outputs, to ensure ethical, informed, and accurate use.

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Sustainability 

We use AI to advance social good but recognize its environmental impact. We support regulatory or other actions to minimize its environmental impact and enhance sustainability.

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Integrity 

AI-generated insights must meet Omni’s standards for scientific rigor, with transparent methods and expert validation.

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In Practice

Finally, at a more practical level, we developed a simple green-yellow-red application framework to help our team independently assess appropriate use cases of AI and to think critically about how to apply it in their daily work.

Green

Encouraged uses, such as editing for clarity, brainstorming, summarizing meeting notes.

Yellow

Permitted uses with close oversight and review, such as drafting content, conducting secondary research, assisting lit reviews.

Red

Not allowed, including any use of PII, writing final reports, AI-generated images.

All staff are trained on our ethical use standards and application framework use and supported by an internal AI Working Group housed within our Ethics Best Practice Team.

AI is never used carelessly or behind the scenes. We are transparent with clients about where and how AI supports our work. Typically, our teams use AI to do things such as:

Summarizing large volumes of information, such as for literature reviews
Debugging R code
Brainstorming alternative ideas
Improving accessibility of content in the editing process

If clients have preferences or restrictions around AI use, we honor those as part of our project scope and approach.

What this Means for You, Our Clients and Partners

All AI outputs at Omni are reviewed by our experts to ensure accuracy, rigor, equity, and alignment with project goals and they are never copied and pasted into our deliverables without review. We never use AI for final analysis, sensitive decisions, or communications without full human review.

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Partnering With You on AI

We bring the same rigor and values to AI that we bring to all of our work. And just as we’re continuously building our internal capacity to use AI, we’re also ready to support clients navigating AI in their own research and evaluation practices. As your consulting partners, we can help your organization:

Identify appropriate AI uses in your research or evaluation
Develop ethical and responsible AI guidelines for your teams
Train program and research staff on best practices for AI use in a program or research context
Use AI to enhance accessibility and lift up community voices

Ready to get started?

Let’s talk about how AI can responsibly support your mission and expand your impact.

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