AI Ethics, Policy and Governance

You’re already making ethical decisions about AI. You just might not be calling them that.

Every time you use AI to draft copy, choose not to tell a client, or feed a brief into a tool you haven’t fully interrogated — you’re making an ethical decision. This session surfaces those decisions, examines them honestly, and helps you start building your own rules.

The Session

Ethical Dilemmas We’ll open by putting the panel on the spot. No abstract principles — just real scenarios that copywriters face right now. Should you tell a client when AI helped write their brand manifesto? What do you do when an AI tool produces copy that’s clearly echoing another writer’s voice? How do you compete against people using AI to undercut you on price? The panel tells us what they’d actually do — and where they disagree is where it gets interesting.

Audience Poll and Discussion Then we turn it on you. We’ll poll the room on the same dilemmas — and the results might be more revealing than the panel’s answers. We’ll also find out how many of you currently have a personal policy on AI use. Spoiler: most of you probably don’t. That’s what the rest of the session is for.

The Organisational Reality What’s actually happening inside agencies and in-house teams? We’ll hear about the governance failures, the unwritten rules, the gap between what organisations say publicly about AI and what’s happening in practice. If you’ve ever felt uncomfortable about how AI is being used at work but didn’t know who to raise it with — this section is for you.

Building Your Own Policy This is where it gets practical. Whether you’re a freelancer or you lead a creative team, you need a position on AI. We’ll work with the panel to build a live framework of the key questions any AI policy needs to answer — which tools you’ll use, what you’ll disclose, where your line is, and how often you’ll revisit it. You’ll leave with a structure you can turn into your own written policy.

Audience Q&A Your dilemmas, answered honestly. Bring the questions you’ve been sitting on.

You’ll Walk Away With

• A clearer sense of where your own ethical lines are, and where they might need to move
• A practical framework for writing your own personal or organisational AI policy
• An honest picture of what’s happening inside creative organisations right now
• The confidence to raise AI ethics questions at work without sounding like you’re against progress
• A provocation: the policy you don’t write is still a policy; it’s just one you haven’t thought through