Why We Need An AI Charter

AI is now part of our day-to-day creative, technical and marketing work. Used well, it can help us research faster, reduce repetitive admin and improve project delivery.

This Charter exists to protect the quality of our work and the trust our clients place in us.

Our use of AI must be purposeful. It must be consistent. It must be safe. It must be transparent.

The FortyTwo Ethos

At FortyTwo, we think of AI tools as assistive intelligence.

AI is an assistant, not a replacement. It can support our team and our clients when used with care, but it cannot replace the experience, judgement or craft that sits behind our work.

We spend time shaping how AI tools understand our purpose, our values, our processes and the full context around any project. The aim is not to automate FortyTwo’s thinking. The aim is to support it with greater consistency and clarity.

Where appropriate, we may create learning materials that help AI tools understand a specific client, market or project context. These materials will only use public information, approved project information, or content that has been cleared for use by the client.

We do not pass confidential, sensitive or unapproved information into AI tools.

When used properly, AI gives us a group of fast, flexible digital assistants that can help explore a subject, organise thinking or support a task. That support only has value when it is directed and reviewed by real people.

Any information we provide to AI must be accurate, relevant and appropriate for the task. Any information AI gives back must be checked before it is used. Where factual accuracy matters, sources should be verified and citations provided where possible.

Supervision, judgement and quality control are more important than ever.

Where We Will Not Use AI

We will be honest about when we will not use AI, even when asked to.

We do not use AI to wholly create the final output of creative materials. 

AI may help us explore, test, structure or support our thinking, but final creative work will always come from the team.

There may be rare cases where AI-generated imagery is useful. This might be where no suitable alternative exists, or where an image is needed only as a temporary reference. In those cases, AI imagery should be treated more like stock photography than original creative output.

AI imagery should never replace commissioned photography, film, animation, illustration or graphic craft where those routes are the right solution.

Any use of AI-generated imagery will be considered on a case-by-case basis. It should be the exception, not the rule.

Client Use

Clients are increasingly using AI to shape briefs, gather references and express early thinking. This can be helpful. AI can act like a fast moodboard, giving us a starting point for discussion and helping clients articulate what they have in mind.

However, AI-generated client material must be treated as input, not direction.

Visual References

Any AI-generated visual supplied by a client will be treated as reference material only. It may help us understand mood, tone, category cues or visual preferences, but it should not be treated as the creative answer.

We believe the best work comes through a collaborative, human-led process. AI can help start a conversation, but it cannot fully understand the problem, the brand, the market or the commercial reality behind the brief.

AI can help create a direction of travel. It cannot replace the process required to make that direction work.

Copywriting

The same principle applies to copy.

Any AI-written copy supplied by a client will be treated as draft material. It will go through the same level of review, challenge and refinement as any other supplied copy.

Tone of voice, messaging and brand language need clear human direction. It would be unwise to define a brand’s voice carefully, then allow AI to interpret it without proper guidance and review from the team.

Feedback Notes

AI can help clients organise feedback. It can turn scattered comments into clearer notes and make reviews easier to discuss.

However, AI-generated feedback should not replace direct conversation. We still need to understand what the client means, what matters most, and whether expectations are aligned before acting on feedback. We will also be vigilant about AI’s tendency to generalise points and even misinterpret information. 

Our projects succeed when feedback is clear and specific throughout.

Areas of Business Use

AI may be used where it supports our strategic thinking, creative exploration, technical delivery, marketing effectiveness, project management or internal efficiency.

It should assist the team. It should not be used as a shortcut around expertise.

Graphic Design, Branding And Creative Work

The design and brand team may use AI to support early-stage thinking, research and exploration.

This may include summarising discovery notes, shaping internal discussion prompts, exploring visual territories, organising moodboard directions and assisting in the creation of otherwise unachievable imagery.

AI may also support production efficiency. It can help draft presentation notes, create internal checklists, assist with formatting tasks, or identify inconsistencies in supplied content.

AI will not replace FortyTwo’s creative judgement.

Brand work will continue to be led by strategy, client insight, market context, positioning, tone of voice and carefully developed visual thinking.

AI can widen the pool of thinking. The final direction, concept, design, rationale and craft will always come from the team.

Web Development, UX and Technical Delivery

The web development team may use AI to support planning, technical problem-solving, documentation, debugging, code explanation, quality assurance and accessibility checks.

AI may also help draft technical notes, suggest test cases, review documentation, support structured content planning, create first-draft CMS guidance, or assist with bug investigation.

For UX and content planning, AI may help analyse user journeys, site structures, page purposes and content requirements.

AI-assisted technical work must still be reviewed by the team. Code, recommendations and technical outputs should not be treated as correct until they have been checked.

Marketing, SEO, Content & Copywriting

The marketing team may use AI to support research, campaign planning, content drafts, content repurposing, SEO thinking, keyword development, website copy, social post variations, reporting summaries, ad copy exploration and audience messaging.

AI can help turn raw information into structured options. It should not be treated as the source of truth.

Any claim, statistic, market insight, technical point, legal statement or performance recommendation must always be checked against reliable sources. Where possible, primary sources should be used.

Project Management and Internal Operations

AI may be used to improve day-to-day workflow.

It can help summarise meeting notes, draft action points, prepare project update templates, organise internal checklists, turn briefs into task lists, or identify missing information.

Any AI-generated summary of a meeting, brief or client instruction must always be checked by the person responsible for the project before it is shared or acted on.

Transparency

FortyTwo will be transparent about its use of AI where it is relevant to the work, the client relationship, the project scope or the final deliverable.

Transparency does not mean listing every small internal use of AI. We do not need to disclose every approved use of AI for tidying notes, drafting internal checklists or organising admin.

Transparency means explaining AI use in plain language when it matters. This is especially important where AI has materially supported research, content generation, image creation, code assistance, data analysis or the production of a client-facing deliverable.

Human-Led

FortyTwo’s use of AI will always be human-led.

AI can assist our work, but it cannot understand the full context of a client, the nuance of a brand, the commercial realities of a project, or the responsibility behind a recommendation.

That responsibility remains with the FortyTwo team.

The people at FortyTwo will decide, edit, approve and remain accountable for final outputs.

AI should help reduce unnecessary admin, improve communication, structure thinking and give the team more time for the work that requires expertise, judgement and craft.

No AI output will be sent to a client, uploaded to a live site, used in a campaign, presented as a final creative concept, or treated as factual without critical human review.

Approved Tools

The FortyTwo team will only use AI tools that have been agreed and approved by the management team.

Approved tools must be assessed before they are used for client or company work. This assessment should consider data protection, confidentiality, security, commercial terms, ownership, copyright and whether user inputs or outputs may be used to train public models.

As a principle, FortyTwo will use paid, business or enterprise-level AI tools where the provider’s terms confirm that our prompts, files, data and outputs are not used to train public models, where possible.

Free, personal, experimental or unapproved AI tools must not be used for client work or confidential company work.

They must not be used for proprietary material, personal data, unpublished strategy, business-sensitive content, source code, login information, client data, internal policies or trade secrets.

Approved AI platforms will be reviewed periodically. Reviews should consider changes in security, data handling, commercial terms and compliance.

Ethics, IP And Copyright

FortyTwo will use AI ethically and will uphold intellectual property, copyright and usage rights in all AI-assisted work.

We will not use AI to knowingly infringe copyright.

We will not use AI to imitate protected work, reproduce another agency’s or artist’s creative output, or create work that misleads clients or audiences about its origin.

We will not use AI to recreate the likeness, image, voice or identity of any person without explicit, informed and documented permission.

This includes clients, employees, public figures, models, customers, suppliers, competitors, influencers, artists and private individuals.

We will not use AI-generated people, voices, endorsements or testimonials in a way that could mislead an audience.

We will not use AI to create fake evidence, fake reviews, fake case studies, false testimonials, deceptive before-and-after imagery, manipulated client results, or any other content that presents fiction as fact.

We will check licensing and usage rights for any AI-generated or AI-assisted creative asset before it is used in client work.

Where copyright, ownership or commercial usage is unclear, the asset will not be used until the risk has been reviewed.

Environmental Responsibility

FortyTwo will consider the environmental impact of AI use.

Our Environmental Policy commits the company to reducing environmental impact, improving resource efficiency, managing waste responsibly and complying with relevant environmental legislation.

AI should be reviewed through the same lens.

It should be used where it adds value. It should be avoided where it creates unnecessary processing, duplication, waste or low-value output.

Continuous Professional Development

AI is evolving quickly, so FortyTwo’s approach to AI must evolve with it.

The team will continue to receive training on approved AI tools, safe use, known limitations and relevance to our work.

AI training should be reviewed regularly. A safe practice today may not remain safe as platforms, laws, client expectations and creative norms change.

Confidentiality

FortyTwo will protect confidential information when using AI.

We will never enter sensitive or confidential information into AI tools unless the tool has been approved for that specific use and the data protection position has been reviewed.

This includes proprietary data, personnel information, trade secrets, commercially sensitive information, client credentials, private financial details, personal data, confidential client materials, internal HR information and sensitive technical details.

This commitment sits alongside our existing Privacy Policy, which explains how we respect personal information, process it securely, keep it safe and make clear when information is collected.

Our AI use must follow the same standards as any other system that handles business information.

For more information, and answers to the most commonly asked questions, you can view our AI and Information Handling Policy here.