We take a clear stance on AI use:

We do not endorse the use of AI for generating images or text to replace the unique contributions of artists. Our approach is that AI should only be used as a tool to aid human creation, not as a replacement for it. We feel this is the only stance to take to both uphold our mission to advocate for the arts and to recognize the usefulness of AI, when it is used responsibly and ethically.

By using AI to replace human creation, an organization does direct and indirect damage to themselves and to the artist community as a whole. Using AI comes with risk, therefore we developed this guide to help our fellow non-profits, for profits and really any organization understand why it is so important to not use AI in your public-facing communications. This is meant to be an easy-to-read, clear and simple tool. We encourage your own research into this topic to stay informed; this is not an exhaustive list. 

This article was written with zero AI input, in neither research, writing or development. 

An Artist-Friendly AI Guideline for Businesses (and our Pledge to you!)

Before we get started, let’s define “generative AI”.  Generative AI is a subset of AI, and uses training data to answer prompts in the form of text, images, audio, video or code. You may know of generative AI as “chatbots”, such as Chat GPT, Claude or Copilot. Its use has exploded in popularity, far faster than regulations can keep up with; which has led to many complex risks for businesses.  

We will review a few of these risks, including public perception/trust risks, legal risks and ethical risks. Then, we will review ways to mitigate negative impacts while still using AI, and finally we invite you to join us in making our post-AI world better with our AI Pledge.

Risk 1: AI use erodes public perception and trust in your business/organization.

AI is still a new technology, with limited oversight and regulation. 63% of Canadians say that AI makes them nervous. (2024 AI Index Report HAI, Ipsos 2023). Viewer sentiment around AI generated content is that it feels soulless ¹ or is regurgitated slop ². So much so, ‘slop’ is Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s 2025 Word of the Year. 

“We define slop as digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” Merriam-Webster²

Any marketing professional will tell you that successful marketing is all about generating trust and loyalty among your customers. Using AI in your marketing directly undermines the trust you’ve built with a majority of your audience. Specifically, an audience who values creativity and the arts. 

“AI is a great thing, but it shouldn’t rip creative people off. Protect the creative thinkers, the creative artists, or you’re not going to have them. As simple as that.” Sir Paul McCartney of The Beatles ³

A recent poll shows that the vast majority of artists (68%) do not use or will never use generative AI⁴. Generative AI uses art to train its models, and directly replace the artists who trained it. Generative AI would not exist without artists. Because of this, many artists see AI as anti-human, lazy and will only increase the already staggering wealth gap, leaving less paid work for artists and more funding for the ultra rich. And by natural extension, any business or organization who uses AI in their marketing is lazy, anti-human and doesn’t value artists’ contributions. 

“As AI becomes more widespread, the number of such books will only increase, forcing authors into an endless game of whack-a-mole. That will mean lower profits for publishers, and less money to spend on new, emerging writers.” David Baldacci, bestselling novelist ³

This negative sentiment is similar with general audiences as well. In a recent study, participants were shown identical marketing content (a product ad) with half the respondents being told the ad image was AI-generated, and the other half being told it was a human-made photograph. Despite being identical, the data showed a unilateral negative perception for the image labeled “AI-generated”. Participants rated the AI content worse across all 12 factors such as being less appealing, creative, eye-catching, credible, memorable or informative. In addition, participants were less inclined to click to learn more about the product, indicating a drop in engagement and conversion.⁵ This clearly signals the perception of AI-generated content is overall negative, and is a huge risk for businesses using AI-generated content. 

“Without a system [that rewards people for their work] and with no economic incentive for people to be creative, our media landscape and public square will become absolutely devoid of anything, but algorithmically regurgitated slop optimized for attention maximization and ad revenue.” Actor, director, writer, and creator Joseph Gordon-Levitt ³

Marketers have built an entire business on “reputation management”, as it is essential to any successful business. Building loyalty, trust, and credibility with customers leads to sales. The statistics don’t lie either; loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase, because they come back again and again. It is easier to sell to an existing customer; the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70 per cent. And when you harm that trust, it is hard to earn it back. It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience.⁶ This means that trust and loyalty should always be taken seriously, which is why this is the biggest and most urgent risk to any business or organization who uses AI to communicate to the world. 

Risk 2: AI use in marketing and advertising can put businesses at legal risk. 

Deceptive advertising is prohibited under the Competition Act,⁷ as with other advisory bodies such as the Canadian Marketing Code of Ethics and Standards.⁸ Deceptive practices may look like fabricating customer testimonials or using misleading images for products or services. Despite this risk, many businesses still blindly trust AI, even with well documented cases of AI ‘hallucinating’ data.⁹ When being used in article writing, chatbots or in content generation, the risk of AI going rogue and completely fabricating information is high; creating liability for your business.

Not to mention, using AI generated marketing is misleading, as they are literally not real. People can sense this, describing AI generated images/video as having an “uncanny valley” look, while also having odd unnatural mistakes, like hands missing fingers, or doors missing handles. AI posters and designs all look the same, leaving viewers feeling fatigued with a homogenized sea of choice. Viewers with attention to detail can typically spot AI images and designs, but the general public still doesn’t have the trained eye to do so. This is where AI fraud thrives. Scams using AI video/images online are growing exponentially, such as fake products or businesses selling a sad story, pulling on our heart strings.

“According to Statistics Canada, fraud cases in Canada have almost doubled over the past ten years, surging from 79,000 in 2012 to 150,000 in 2022. This increase shows that fraudsters are becoming more skilled, and technology like AI is helping them improve their old tricks.” ¹⁰

As the AI scam industry explodes, using AI imagery will naturally be associated with untrustworthyness. Using AI images for your brand, products or services will be seen as misleading. Public and legal scrutiny will grow, with the legality falling squarely on the businesses, not the AI tools itself.  In order to be seen as trustworthy and not mislead your audience, the only choice is to opt for authentic images, real voices, and professional designs made by real creatives. 

Risk 3: Ethically, AI use is murky at best.

In addition to ‘hallucinating’, AI also perpetuates biases.⁸ Biases such as those focused on race, sex, gender, and culture are inherently built within AI. Equality, fairness, respect of the law, promotion of social justice, protection of data/privacy and upholding consumer rights and commercial fairness are still completely unregulated within AI.

We haven’t even touched the surface on the environmental impacts. AI’s rapid growth drives huge energy, water, and land use, raising environmental and equity challenges across its global infrastructure. A recent UN report¹¹ outlines the dire state of the industry on a world stage, as top data centre hubs around the world mostly use non-renewable sources such as fossil and nuclear energy. 

“Text-to-image diffusion models use substantially higher amounts of energy than text generation. A “typical” AI image is roughly 60 times more demanding than a short text answer and 1,450 times that of text classification.“ ¹¹

This data shows us that using AI generated images and video is not only harmful to artists and the environment, it is reckless. At the end of the day, your organization should never be reckless; it should be intentional, acting with care and above all, protecting itself from risk. 

How to mitigate negative impacts, while still using AI

Avoiding AI is not a reasonable response to the risks of AI. Likely, you will still use it, so let’s discuss ways to do it, but responsibly!

As far as we’re concerned, the number one way we can all use AI ethically is by eliminating image/video generation entirely, and with as little use as possible for text/code generation. This means, using it as a tool. This could look like:

• Using it to begin an article, which you will edit to be in your own voice.
• Using it to write a social media post, which you will edit to be in your brand’s voice.
• Using it to write code, such as HTML for your website, which you will ensure is aligned with your branding, working closely with a designer. 

You might notice a pattern here; all of these examples involve high user oversight and sometimes entire re-creation in order to maintain a strong human-centric design. This is called a Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) ¹² approach, using AI as a collaborative tool, amplifying human creativity rather than replacing it. By maintaining rigorous review and aligning the AI content with your brand, your marketing can still utilize this technology and preserve an authentic audience connection.

Other ways you can use a HITL approach is by user testing your AI, ensuring it is actually improving your customer experience. Create feedback mechanisms, like forms for customers to provide feedback easily and report issues. Finally, regularly assess whether the impact of AI use is having a positive or negative effect on your business. This is human-centric design at its core. It prioritizes the user, listening and being transparent. 

“I am not fundamentally opposed to Generative AI. But AI needs to be fair, and ethical for everybody—and not only for the companies that make AI products. AI needs to be fair to the customers who use these products, and also for creative people like me who make the raw material that these AI materials depend upon.” Concept artist and illustrator Karla Ortiz ³

Speaking of transparency, consider developing an AI Ethics Policy¹². This policy might include things such as a public statement on how you use AI to collect, analyze and use data, how you create content with it, and stating when AI is used. This policy should be in alignment with your company’s ethical policies and clearly communicate the usage of AI, with an annual review to keep it relevant in our quickly changing world.

Overall, be honest and transparent. Be open with your customers and audience about your stance on AI, and how using AI is augmenting, not replacing human roles. Link to your policy and let people provide feedback. When it comes to good business and marketing, honesty is truly the best policy.

Perhaps you’ve already seen a backlash either against your own organization or a fellow organization for using AI in their marketing. This is unfortunate, but it’s not too late to fix your image, or to help a fellow organization fix theirs. 

Join us in making a better world with our AI Pledge

Perhaps you’ve already seen a backlash either against your own organization or a fellow organization for using AI in their marketing. This is unfortunate, but it’s not too late to fix your image, or to help a fellow organization fix theirs. 

Or, you feel it is high time that businesses and organizations speak up on behalf of the creative sector and say NO to replacing human-made, authentic art with AI. 

Post this pledge, along with the “We Support Local Human-Made Art” badge to your social media, newsletter and/or website. Tag us online, and we will send you a badge to post on your business’ window/office to display proudly that you support our mission and the arts in the Alberni Valley.

Additionally, create an AI Ethics Policy, ensure a Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) approach when using AI, and of course, hire an artist/designer when creating marketing material.

If you are in need of marketing support, feel free to reach out to the Alberni Arts Council. We will provide a free one-on-one consultation and help you find a marketing agent or designer to elevate your business’s brand. 

Thank you for taking the pledge and supporting our local artists!

Citations

1. Rastogi, A. (2025). Coca-Cola’s ‘Soulless’ AI Ad Sparks Online Fury. [online] Yahoo Entertainment. Available at: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/coca-cola-soulless-ai-ad-193131427.html.
2. www.merriam-webster.com. (2024). Word of the Year 2022. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-of-the-year.
3. Lang, C. (2025). Artists Speak Out on the Harms of Unlicensed AI ‘Ingestion’ and the Value of Human Creativity | Copyright Alliance. [online] Copyright Alliance. Available at: https://copyrightalliance.org/artists-speak-out-harm-unlicenced-ai-ingestion/.
4. Mass Culture (2026). RESULTS: Curiosity Poll for Artists on AI. [online] Available at: https://www.canva.com/design/DAHIy8aUVj8/qa5MQhoQwmQeFcqNDvyWQg/view?utm_content=DAHIy8aUVj8&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=h653979ae4c [Accessed 8 Jun. 2026].
5. Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions. Contact (2025). Consumer attitudes toward AI-generated marketing content. [online] NIM e.V. Available at: https://www.nim.org/en/publications/detail/transparency-without-trust.
6. Gillette, C. (2023). The Psychology of Trust in Marketing: How to Earn It and How to Keep It. [online] Salesforce. Available at: https://www.salesforce.com/ca/blog/psychology-of-trust-in-marketing/.
7. Canada, C.B. (2024). False or Misleading Representations and Deceptive Marketing Practices. [online] Canada.ca. Available at: https://competition-bureau.canada.ca/en/deceptive-marketing-practices/types-deceptive-marketing-practices/false-or-misleading-representations-and-deceptive-marketing-practices.
8. Canadian Marketing Association. (n.d.). Code of Ethics & Standards. [online] Available at: http://thecma.ca/resources/code-of-ethics-standards.
9. MIT Management (2024). When AI Gets It Wrong: Addressing AI Hallucinations and Bias. [online] MIT Sloan Teaching & Learning Technologies. Available at: https://mitsloanedtech.mit.edu/ai/basics/addressing-ai-hallucinations-and-bias/.
10. Canada, C.B. (2024b). The rise of AI: Fraud in the digital age. [online] www.canada.ca. Available at: https://www.canada.ca/en/competition-bureau/news/2024/03/the-rise-of-ai-fraud-in-the-digital-age.html.
11. Aczel M., Chamanara S., Matin M., Farsi A., Marwala T., Madani K. (2026) Environmental Cost of AI’s Energy Use: Carbon, Water and Land Footprints, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, doi: 10.53328/INR26RMA002 Available at: https://unu.edu/inweh/collection/environmental-cost-of-AIs-Enrgy-Use-Carbon-water-and-land-footprints
12. Canadian Marketing Association (2025). CMA Guide on AI for Marketers: Using AI Safely and for Positive Business Impact Produced by the CMA in collaboration with the Vector Institute 1 CMA Guide on AI for Marketers: Using AI Safely and for Positive Business Impact. [online] Available at: https://thecma.ca/docs/default-source/default-document-library/CMA-Guide-on-AI-for-Marketers-2025.pdf.