Contractors who use AI: what to check in the agreement

The checklist

1. Scope: outcomes and deliverables with acceptance criteria, not a list of duties.
2. AI use: the tools and accounts allowed, and that business accounts that don't train on your data are used for your material.
3. Confidentiality: what never goes into any AI tool (customer data, unreleased plans, credentials), how long it lasts, and what happens to materials at the end.
4. Review and disclosure: the contractor checks facts and numbers, and says when a deliverable is mostly AI-generated.
5. IP: a present assignment ("hereby assigns"), their pre-existing materials carved out and licensed, and [ask counsel: how to word it for AI-assisted work].
6. Payment and exit: rate, invoicing, payment days, notice, payment for work done, return of materials.
7. Status: the label doesn't settle it; the US Department of Labor says signing an independent contractor agreement doesn't make someone one. Check who controls how and when the work is done.

A worked example

Illustration: a made-up business. A 9-person marketing agency is hiring a freelance copywriter for three months and runs the checklist on the freelancer's standard agreement:

Top three fixes: add an AI clause (Claude Team only for client material; client names and results never in a personal account; drafts reviewed and facts checked by the writer); add AI tools to the confidentiality clause; change "will assign" to "hereby assigns". Question for counsel: how to word the assignment for AI-assisted drafts. The agency's own note to clients already says what it promises them, so the writer's clause matches it.

Before you sign

1. Match the contractor's AI clause to what you've promised your own clients.
2. Name the accounts, not just "approved tools".
3. Copy numbers exactly from the agreement into your checklist.
4. Send the IP and status questions to counsel.
5. Keep the checklist with the signed agreement.

A summary of US points, not legal advice. Rules on ownership and worker status differ by country.

Next step: give contractors your method, not your files

Once the agreement is right, the next question is how a contractor gets your way of working. Sharing AI skills with contractors covers that, and AI use disclosure to clients covers your side of the promise.

Questions

What should a contractor agreement say about AI?

Which AI tools and accounts the contractor may use on your work, what of yours must never go into them, that a person reviews everything before delivery, when they tell you a deliverable was mostly AI-generated, and what ownership is assigned to you. Add these to the usual scope, confidentiality, payment and termination terms.

Do I own AI-generated work a contractor delivers?

The contract can only assign what's protectable. The US Copyright Office's January 2025 report says prompts alone don't make someone the author of AI output, while human-authored parts and the creative selection and arrangement of material can be protected, case by case. Ask counsel how to word the assignment.

Can a contractor paste our confidential information into ChatGPT?

Only if the agreement allows it, and then only into an account that doesn't train on the data, such as a business plan. Say in the agreement which accounts are allowed and what must never go in.