All aboard the all gas no brakes hype train what could possibly go wrong‽

Earlier this year, Carly Holm, CEO of HR consultancy Humani, received a call from a New York-based client. One employee had filed a workplace harassment claim against another, and the situation was escalating quickly. But when Holm asked the client for a copy of their employee handbook, part of a routine compliance check, they stumbled. “They kind of sheepishly said ‘Okay, well here it is, ChatGPT wrote it,’” Holm told Forbes.

For Holm, who has reviewed AI-written policies for dozens of her clients, the revelation was no surprise. But in this case there was a major problem: the AI-generated handbook didn’t have an anti-harassment policy at all.

“If the workplace does not have appropriate policies in place like a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment, workplace violence, etc, the investigation will then look at the employer, and there will be consequences,” she said. “So they realized, ‘Wow, we should have brought in professionals to write these policies the proper way.’”

Companies are increasingly turning to AI to generate important, often legally binding, employment documents — from company handbooks and workplace policies to contracts like offer letters and separation agreements, according to interviews with four HR and payroll service providers. And in several cases, these documents, spun using AI tools like ChatGPT, overlook key clauses and crucial issues putting employers at serious legal and financial risk, HR consultants who have directly worked with such companies told Forbes.