Navigating risk management
The Open University
Last updated August 30, 2026
Navigating risk management works through the exposures that appear when generative tools enter an organization: data protection, professional accountability, and the integrity of client-facing services. It examines how work divides between people and machines, names the main risks that division creates, and then turns to managing them — including assessing and interrogating a model before it is put anywhere near a client. It is part of AI Law and Legal Training, a free collection on OpenLearn Create for advice and legal contexts. A self-paced course of around three hours including a short quiz; enrolling is free.
Part 6 of 8 in AI Law and Legal Training
- Understanding Generative AI
- Skills and strategies for using Generative AI
- Key considerations for successful Generative AI adoption
- Use cases for Generative AI
- Ethical and responsible use of Generative AI
- Navigating risk management (you are here)
- Understanding legal regulation and compliance
- Preparing for tomorrow: horizon scanning and AI literacy
What you'll learn
- Data protection when generative AI tools handle client information
- Professional accountability for AI-assisted work
- Protecting the integrity of client-facing services
- How responsibility divides between people and automated tools
- Assessing and interrogating a model before adopting it, and mitigating what remains
Frequently asked questions about Navigating risk management
Who is Navigating risk management for?
Managers, advisers and legal professionals who carry the consequences when a generative AI tool is used on client work.
Is Navigating risk management free?
Yes — Navigating risk management is completely free to take.
What are the prerequisites for Navigating risk management?
Assumes some understanding of how generative AI and large language models work; the AI Law and Legal Training collection recommends taking Understanding Generative AI first.
Does Navigating risk management offer a certificate?
Yes. Digital badge and course certificate, awarded on completing all sections and passing the course quiz.
Why we suggest this course
Risk here means specific, nameable exposures — client data, who is accountable when an answer is wrong, whether a service can still be trusted — not general caution. The course also insists on something most adoption guides skip: interrogating the model itself before deployment, so the choice of tool becomes a decision with reasons behind it rather than a default. AI Law and Legal Training is funded by UKRI Responsible AI and built by The Open University and the University of Lincoln with Citizens Advice, with support from lawyers at Fieldfisher, Mishcon de Reya and Browne Jacobson.