AI transparency: Should you disclose your AI use?
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Posted: Thu 23rd Jan 2025
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way organisations approach social media marketing. For purpose-driven businesses and charities, AI offers the opportunity to save both time and resources while still producing engaging and impactful content.
From helping with content planning and creating visuals to crafting captions, the possibilities seem to be endless but so are the responsibilities that come with using these tools.
Today's audiences are all about authenticity
People want to trust that brands and organisations they're supporting are honest about how they operate, this includes their processes. Being transparent about how you use AI isn’t just an ethical consideration; it’s a way to strengthen trust, uphold your organisation's values and potentially stand out in an increasingly competitive digital space.
With that in mind, let’s explore why transparency around AI use is vital, particularly in social media marketing.
What is AI transparency and why does it matter?
AI transparency refers to the practice of being open and honest about how, when and why your organisation uses artificial intelligence. When it comes to social media marketing, this means sharing with your audience when AI tools are used to create content or plan campaigns.
Why does it matter? Trust is the cornerstone of any successful organisation. All organisations, regardless of their size, rely on community support. So, being able to maintain this trust is critical.
Transparency around your AI use reassures your audience that you’re not replacing human input with automation or cutting corners. Instead, you're showing that you’re using AI as an assistant to complement your team’s expertise, not as a substitute for an experienced member of staff.
Keep in mind
With so many worries about AI replacing people and ‘taking jobs’, It's very important to show the world (in a sense) that you’re only utilising AI tools to assist your work output.
At Naturally Social, we’ve doubled down on this by including it within our AI policy. Here, we’ve outlined how we intend to use AI:
“Naturally Social plans to use AI to contribute to the work we produce for both us and our clients.”
Get ahead of regulation
Transparency doesn’t only extend to letting your clients or customers know about how you’re using AI. Being upfront about your AI use helps you stay ahead of potential regulatory changes, as governments and industry bodies increase their focus on ethical AI use.
Adopting transparency now means your organisation can demonstrate a proactive approach which can align with emerging best practices in the digital marketing world.
Should businesses disclose AI use in social media marketing?
Questions like, Should businesses disclose AI use? can spark some debate. While it could be argued that it’s unnecessary to highlight every instance where AI has been used within a business, others can point out that transparency builds credibility and protects your brand from potential backlash.
From our point of view, the answer is easy: Yes, you should disclose AI use when it directly impacts how your audience experiences your content.
But what do we mean by that? If AI generates your captions, creates responses to comments, or writes your newsletter, then let your audience know.
How to be transparent about AI use
A great way to communicate your use of AI is by creating an AI transparency statement. This document would outline:
The AI tools you’re using
The purpose of these tools (eg, caption writing, visual creation)
Your commitment to human oversight – ensuring content aligns with your brand values and isn't just copied and pasted
You can then include this statement on your website and publicise it across your social media, which would reinforce your organisation’s ethical approach.
If you’re not sure where to start with this, download our free AI transparency statement template.
Selecting ethical AI tools and staying compliant
We’ve just touched on disclosing which AI tools you’re using. What we mean by this is that not all AI platforms are created equal! When choosing your tools, prioritise those that adhere to regulatory standards, as well as ethical guidelines.
This isn’t just a case of finding something that looks great and pulling a list together. You’ll need to research and read through the policies and information available for each platform. You can then select platforms that are transparent about how their AI works and manages data.
At Naturally Social, we have carefully vetted the AI tools we use to ensure they meet these standards. We’ve reviewed and compared several tools, provided training to our team on the ‘dos and don’ts of AI use’ and created an in-depth policy, which is available upon request. This commitment not only supports ethical marketing but could also protect our organisation from potential reputational risks.
Don’t stop there
When reviewing the AI tools that you are, or might, be using make sure you know whether you need to have the paid version to protect data. Make sure you’re building in any steps you and your team need to take to mitigate any of the following:
Any bias in the outputs
Ensuring the output is in line with your values and your brand
That you’re not breaching Data Protection
Tips for small businesses
Here are some steps to help you get started:
Be selective: There are so many platforms out there and that's only going to continue to grow as AI advances further. Choose platforms that align with your values, meet compliance standards and ensure that you know what’s happening with the data you are inputting
Educate your team: Getting your team on board, after all, they may have discovered and are using AI tools that you’re not aware of. To ensure you’re all on the same page, explain the importance of having a standardised list of AI tools and stress the importance of data protection – especially when using free tools
Train your team: It’s possible that your team may not have AI on their radar yet and that’s ok! Make sure you take the time to provide training on the AI tools you’re using
Create your AI transparency statement and AI policy: Get detailed and ensure it’s in line with your company values
Communicate clearly: Let your clients know if you're intending to use AI. Make sure you use any relevant AI tags when posting AI content to your social media
Regularly review processes: Like with all policies, you’ll need to stay up to date. Review your policies regularly and ensure you stay up to date with any app updates, especially anything to do with data
With great power comes great responsibility
Embracing transparency means you can use AI ethically, build trust with your audience and set your organisation apart from the rest.
We’ve been utilising AI since 2023 and are confident in both our policies and our use of AI as an assistant to our team. We’re already seeing the benefits of integrating AI into some of our tasks and plan to further roll out its use in 2025.
If you’re ready to take your knowledge further, join the AI Made Easy course, which launches in February 2025.
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