When people first hear about Reflect AI, they sometimes ask if it’s "spying" on employees. And yet, they have no problem with spellcheck and grammar apps reading everything they write all day long.
Communication is one of the most critical skills at work — without it, nothing would get done. But miscommunication can be equally powerful, leading to misunderstandings, reputational harm, and legal consequences. Just as we rely on tools like spellcheck and grammar check to help us sound polished and professional, Reflect AI serves as “harm check,” to ensure our messages are respectful and compliant with company policies and won’t unwittingly set us back in our own careers.
Despite that, some people jump to conclusions when they hear about Reflect AI. They might say, “It’s the word police, telling us what we can’t say.” But is it?
In a word, no. Reflect AI isn’t about surveillance — it’s about protection for companies and employees. When you’re writing an email at work, a subtle icon on your screen lets you know Reflect AI is active. If your message contains potentially harmful, unlawful, or unethical language, Reflect AI will give you a prompt in real time, similar to the way spellcheck flags typos or grammar apps catch clumsy phrasing. It helps you reconsider how your words may come across to others, giving you the chance to self-correct before hitting send.
Reflect AI is trained by skilled humans to detect all types of harm, from anger at one end of the spectrum to unlawful, threatening and abusive language at the far end. We ensure through our training that workplace communication adheres to company policies — and the law.
Here’s something else that surprises a lot of people in the working world: Your work emails really aren’t private. The email address and computer you use at work are company property, and many companies explicitly state in employment agreements that they can monitor and review your communications. It’s common for new hires to sign an acknowledgement form stating that emails sent on work systems belong to the company, not the employee.
Companies widely monitor for productivity, security threats, and compliance with regulations. The real difference is that Reflect AI looks at employee’s digital communications with one specific purpose: to help you prevent harmful language that could damage you, your team, and your company.
Here are a few real-life examples of emails that have been sent:
“Tell him that he’s the reason why most people hate Jews.” — one senior partner to another at an employment law firm in Los Angeles
“I hate blacks.” — email sent by a Northern California police officer who was later involved in the fatal shooting of a Black college athlete
“We would much rather work with you guys than against you. Together we can be unstoppable but in opposition we can cost each other a lot of money.” — language signaling collusion by three private equity firms in New York that led them to pay out $325 million in an antitrust claim settlement
“How is this not money laundering?” “It 100 percent is.” — colleagues at a Canadian bank recently hit with $3 billion in penalties for long-term, widespread money laundering
Reflect AI helps companies prevent this kind of language from going unnoticed.
Surveillance on the job isn’t new. Many companies already use a variety of monitoring tools in the workplace, such as keylogging software, screen recording, and time-tracking apps to ensure productivity and security. These tools often operate in the background without an obvious presence. A 2021 survey of 1,250 employers found that 60% tracked worker productivity and activity with monitoring software, according to HR Morning, a human resources news website.
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace allow administrators to see how many emails were sent, what documents were saved to shared drives, and what video meetings were attended (along with when and where people joined them from) — as well as access the content of emails and calendar items, according to the Washington Post. Slack allows administrators to see how active a user is and how many messages they’ve sent. Zoom allows company officials to see how many meetings users participated in, for how long, and whether their camera and mic were turned on, the Post reported.
That’s not all. Electronic employee key cards tally when workers enter a building, allowing employers to know who’s working from home and who’s not. Employers can also track activity on company-issued mobile phones.
How is employee monitoring legal? The federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) allows employers to monitor employees without their knowledge for legitimate business reasons, and to legally look at sent emails, according to a report on employee monitoring in Business News Daily. The story also asserted that “there is practically no reasonable expectation of privacy for an employee using a company device, so a good rule of thumb is to assume that anything employees do on their company-owned computer is visible to their employer.”
Collaboration with employees may be key. A 2022 study by Profusion, a data science company that surveyed 1,000 workers in the U.K., showed that 61% of respondents said they’d be comfortable with monitoring if it supports transparency and fairness, they know it’s occurring, they have access to the data, and they can challenge the findings, according to Employer News.
Bottom line: At work, emails belong to the company, so it’s reasonable to expect that employee communications meet a certain standard. Reflect AI helps you meet that standard, guiding you toward better communication habits. People can — and do — write anything they want in emails. Other writing tools will point out the need to capitalize a letter or add a comma. Only Reflect AI provides harm check. It’s a proactive ally — not a spy — supporting your professional growth and ensuring your communications reflect your best intentions.
Carolyne Zinko is the AI editor at Alphy.
Reflect AI by Alphy is an AI communication compliance solution that detects and flags language that is harmful, unlawful, and unethical in digital communication. Alphy was founded to reduce the risk of litigation from harmful and discriminatory communication while helping employees communicate more effectively.