Townsend Creative Imaging AI Policy
As I launch Townsend Creative Imaging as a full service marketing firm, I’m developing processes and standard operating procedures using various artificial intelligence entities. Anyone in any business would be a fool not to.
That said, the ethical and transparent business use of AI is of huge concern to me. I have thousands of published written, photographic and artistic works published all over the internet from a diverse career in content and publishing that spans more than 20 years. I don’t want my original work co-opted any more than any other artist or writer.
Furthermore, I believe Google and other algorithmic search platforms will start to punish purely-AI created content in rankings and AI-assisted search mentions. With AI-created content, much of the quality and subject matter slides to the middle of the bell curve and will not satisfy quality requirements. Moreover, academics are already positing ways to reverse-engineer AI outputs from LLMs to see the input data. It’s a small leap to build in a theoretical “AI Checker” to a search algorithm complex, even though that tech does not yet exist.
Transparency is Key
Transparency is an antidote to that coming reckoning, whatever shape it takes. The exact ways I use AI are proprietary, however; I promise to clients and the reader I will disclose the use of AI in the following ways:
AI Visual Assets and Design Transparency Policy
UPDATE: As of August 2024, Townsend Creative Imaging will no longer consider using generative AI in deliverables. The exception is the use of Adobe’s built-in generative tech. Adobe licenses all its training material, and we use it mostly in the course of generating vector elements for larger illustrations or editing marketing photos only (never reportage). Images using Adobe AI will follow the labeling conventions outlined below. As always, all use of AI will be disclosed in detail to the client.
In the case of published AI work from TCI:
An AI illustration created entirely from a prompt will be labeled “AI-Created Illustration Courtesy of Townsend Creative Imaging.”
A good example is the one below I had my custom AI designer come up with for demonstration purposes
Dall-E Generated Image courtesy of Townsend Creative Imaging
Sometimes, I’ll have my AI generate an image that I then manipulate. I wanted to put my personal stamp on this illustration by making the central figure a self-portrait. I created a sketch of myself in traditional ink, photographed it, and then finished it in Adobe Illustrator.
AI-Assisted Illustration by Adam Townsend. Platform: Dall-E
In such cases, the image will be labeled “AI-Assisted Illustration by Adam Townsend” (or whichever TCI freelancer or employee is producing the image).
Any photo-realistic images or videos used for marketing in lieu of licensed stock photos will be similarly labeled as “illustrations,” (for photos) and “Animations” (for video) that are “Created” or “assisted” by AI, depending on how we produced the finished image or video.
AI-Written Work by Townsend Creative Imaging
I do not use AI for content creation. Custom AI entities will, however, perform light copy editing, occasional SEO optimization and rewrites of limited sections of articles, however.
This is minor operational production work I’m disclosing here as policy, but does not warrant exhaustive disclosure on every project.
In the event it seems necessary to submit AI-created work, I will personally discuss with the client how I’m using the tech and what I consider ethical and transparent in relation to our business arrangement and readers/users at large. We’ll make sure we are in agreement before proceeding.
TCI Used No AI in the creation of this policy document, except for demonstration illustrations where labeled.
