i-Spy AI Use Policy
June 2026
This short policy explains how i-Spy views and uses artificial intelligence in support of client work. It is intended to give clients a clear, practical and human explanation of how AI may be used, how client information is protected, and why i-Spy still believes good judgement, creative experience and professional responsibility should sit firmly with people, not platforms. This document is a general operational policy, not formal legal advice.
Purpose
This policy explains how i-Spy may use artificial intelligence tools to support client work, while protecting client confidentiality, creative integrity, intellectual property and human judgement.
Plain English position
AI is used as an efficiency tool, not as a replacement creative director, strategist or decision-maker. It helps remove admin, organise complexity and speed up routine tasks so more time can be spent on thinking, craft and client care.
1. How AI may be used
i-Spy may use AI tools to support the organisation, review and refinement of working material. Typical uses include summarising meeting transcripts, structuring notes, checking clarity, turning rough inputs into cleaner internal working documents, comparing information, preparing first-pass administrative drafts and helping organise strategic inputs. AI may also be used to support research framing, prompt questions, identify gaps and create working structures. Final judgement remains human.
2. How AI is not used
AI is not treated as the author of i-Spy strategy, positioning, naming, creative direction or final recommendations. AI is not asked to make final decisions on behalf of i-Spy or its clients. It is not used to knowingly reproduce third-party creative work, imitate living artists, copy competitor material, or generate client-ready claims without human review. In short: AI can help tidy the workbench, but it does not get to sign the work.
3. Human oversight
All AI-supported outputs are reviewed by i-Spy before being used with a client or supplier. i-Spy checks meaning, accuracy, tone, originality, commercial relevance and suitability for the brief. Where AI has helped to organise or polish a working document, i-Spy remains responsible for the professional judgement applied to the final output.
4. Ethics and proportionate use
i-Spy would prefer a world where craft, judgement and human experience did not need defending against automation. At the same time, AI has a clear practical value when used carefully: it can reduce unnecessary admin, improve organisation, support accuracy, help projects move efficiently and free more human time for the work clients actually value. i-Spy uses AI deliberately, not lazily or indiscriminately.
5. Client confidentiality
i-Spy aims to use AI tools carefully and proportionately. Client information may be summarised, anonymised, reduced or paraphrased before being entered into an AI tool where that is sensible. Highly sensitive material, such as confidential financial information, personal data, unreleased product details, legal advice, passwords, trade secrets or procurement-sensitive information, should not be entered into public AI tools unless there is a clear business need and suitable safeguards are in place.
6. Personal data
i-Spy seeks to avoid entering unnecessary personal data into AI tools. Where meeting transcripts or notes include names, roles or opinions, i-Spy will use reasonable judgement to limit what is shared and to keep the use relevant to the work. Clients should tell i-Spy if any information is especially sensitive or subject to specific handling requirements.
7. Intellectual property and ownership
i-Spy does not claim that AI tools create protected original work in the same way as a human author. Client-facing creative, strategic and written outputs are developed, selected and approved through human judgement. i-Spy will not knowingly submit AI-generated content as final original work without review, editing and professional responsibility. Existing third-party rights must still be respected.
8. Accuracy and reliability
AI tools can be useful, but they can also be confidently wrong, incomplete or out of date. Any factual, legal, financial, technical or market claims that materially affect client decisions should be checked against reliable sources before use. AI output is treated as a working input, not a finished authority.
Practical safeguards
A simple operating standard for sensible AI use inside a creative business.
| Principle | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Use AI for efficiency | Use AI to summarise, structure, compare, organise and polish working material. Do not outsource core judgement. |
| Keep humans accountable | i-Spy reviews and approves any AI-supported output before it is relied upon or shared externally. |
| Minimise sensitive data | Do not enter more client information than is needed. Remove or reduce personal, confidential or commercially sensitive detail where possible. |
| Check important claims | Verify factual, legal, financial, technical and market claims before they influence decisions or appear in client-facing work. |
| Respect IP | Do not ask AI to copy a competitor, imitate protected work, or recreate third-party creative material. |
| Choose tools carefully | Prefer tools and account settings that offer stronger privacy, clearer data controls, business-grade security and credible environmental transparency. |
| Be transparent when asked | If a client asks, i-Spy will explain how AI was used on their work in practical terms. No smoke, no mirrors, no robot cape. |
9. Supplier and subcontractor use
Where i-Spy works with trusted subcontractors, suppliers or collaborators, they are expected to handle client information responsibly and not use AI tools in ways that would undermine confidentiality, ownership, originality or client trust. i-Spy remains the lead point of accountability to the client.
10. Preferred tool settings
Where practical, i-Spy will use paid, business or professional settings that limit training on business data, provide better privacy controls and allow stronger retention management. Free tools may be useful for low-risk experimentation, but they are not the preferred place for sensitive client information.
11. Environmental responsibility
i-Spy recognises that AI use has an environmental cost. The aim is to use AI deliberately, not compulsively. That means avoiding unnecessary prompts, using the right tool for the task, reusing good prompts and documents, and favouring providers that are more transparent about energy, water and carbon impact.
12. Client-specific restrictions
If a client has its own AI restrictions, confidentiality terms, regulated data obligations or procurement requirements, i-Spy will follow those agreed requirements for that work. Clients should raise any restrictions at the start of a project, particularly where work involves sensitive strategy, data, legal material, unpublished products or personal information.
13. Review
This policy will be reviewed periodically because AI tools, laws and provider policies are changing quickly. i-Spy will update the policy where needed to keep it practical, proportionate and commercially sensible.
Important note
This document is a general operational policy. It is not formal legal advice, and it does not replace specific contractual terms, data processing agreements or professional legal review where those are required.