Sookio’s new AI policy sets out our core principles when it comes to this exciting and ever-advancing technology, ensuring that we are using AI tools ethically, legally, and effectively so we are always keeping our clients’ best interests at heart.

A great thing about working in the digital sector is that it is continually changing and developing. But this can give you a feeling of having to run to catch up all the time; clients have often said to me over the years that just when they felt like they were on top of everything, something else would come along!

Suddenly you need a strategy for Google+ or Clubhouse (remember them?) or TikTok (now that one has had more staying power).

In the last two years, it’s been AI that’s made marketers do a double take. Not a new technology (we’re talking decades of development here), it was the introduction of ChatGPT in late 2022 that accelerated everything forwards at an alarming rate.

At Sookio, we’ve been watching developments very closely. Experimenting with the tools ourselves, listening to industry podcasts, joining webinars…drawing on all our expertise and listening to the varied perspectives of our colleagues. We’re male, female, different ages, different backgrounds; I’ve been keeping my eyes and ears open to discussions around AI and quietly thinking through how do WE feel about artificial intelligence? What’s OUR approach? What’s OUR position at Sookio on all this?

And I’ll tell you our position. We love technology, and want to get the very best out of it for our clients. But the human factor must never be forgotten. We will always aim to strike a balance between the two.

Introducing our new AI policy

This month we’re publishing the first edition of our marketing agency AI policy, which we’ll revisit and update as the technology develops even further. It’s built around the work we do as an agency and our core values, supporting our team in using AI tools ethically, legally, and effectively so that we minimise risk for our clients and demonstrate best practice at all times.

It supports three core principles:

1. Quality: We’re cautious and circumspect in our approach to working with generative AI tools, using them for research and ideation. We will check and cite with care, to avoid being susceptible to bias and misinformation.  

2. Protection: We will follow developments in legal regulation closely to ensure we are protecting our content and our clients from issues relating to copyright and fair use of data. 

3. Privacy: Sookio will never input sensitive information or private client data into generative AI tools. We will adhere to the principles of GDPR, being transparent in our use of generative AI and how we collect and store data. 

The policy covers

• Behind-the-scenes activity: How we train the team and follow sustainable practices in digital activity

• Content creation: Our boundaries around using AI text generators such as ChatGPT

• Using audiovisual tools: Saving time in subtitling, transcribing, and making minor edits

• Research, analysis and ideation: Sparking ideas and spotting patterns in data

• Meetings, training and webinars: How we record and store data, and ensure consent

• Hiring processes: Our expectations from candidates, and showing respect and authenticity ourselves

We look forward to talking this new AI policy through with clients in our next Untangler session in March, and if anyone has any comments or perspectives to share, do get in touch. There’s a lot to discuss!