Our AI Code of Ethics for Content Systems

This is Column Five’s code of ethics for using artificial intelligence (AI) in our content and creative work. It sets out the commitments we make to the brands we partner with. We organize them around three principles: transparency, responsibility, and accountability. These commitments will evolve as the tools do. We would sooner put them in writing now than keep you guessing.

What we mean by an AI code of ethics for content

Ethics come down to principles of right and wrong. Thoughtful people land in different places, depending on their experience and their point of view. There is rarely a clean answer, and AI ethics are no exception. So treat this as a clear statement of where we stand today.

We are a content marketing agency, and AI now touches almost every part of how creative work gets made. That puts us, your partner, in the position of bringing these tools to your brand. Being candid about how we use them is the whole point of this code. Think of it as the ethics layer of our wider approach to AI brand governance. It also reflects how we build content systems you can trust. The same thinking shapes the modern content engine we run at scale.

Importantly, our job has not changed. We are still content marketers and creative people. AI is simply one more set of tools, alongside Figma, the Adobe suite, iStock, and ClickUp. What follows is how we hold ourselves to a standard while we use them on your behalf.

Why this matters to the brands we work with

You are almost certainly thinking about this already. According to the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), 80% of large brand owners worry about how their agency partners use generative AI. Ethical risk ranks among the top concerns they name. Nearly half of the companies surveyed plan to add contract terms that spell out how vendors can use AI. The concern is not fading as the tools mature, either. In its 2025 research, the WFA found that even as adoption became near-universal among large brands, roughly two-thirds still expected these tools to add risk alongside the efficiency they bring.

The encouraging part is that brands and partners want the same things. The WFA also asked which responsible-AI principles companies have adopted. The top four were privacy (78%), transparency (76%), responsibility (70%), and respect for intellectual property (65%). Those four map almost exactly onto the commitments below. In other words, we are reading the moment the same way you are.

In practice, an early conversation about AI gets everyone on the same page. We would sooner have it in the open. After all, the brands we work with are increasingly expected to answer these questions themselves.

Transparency: we are open about how we use AI

Transparency is the simplest principle to state and the easiest to honor. We do not hide our use of AI. We treat our AI tools like any other tool in our kit. So if you want to know what we used to make something, just ask. We will tell you, and that includes every AI tool involved.

Beyond that, we are glad to talk about it. We would love for you to ask. A conversation about where AI helps and where it struggles is exactly what a forward-thinking partner should welcome. Every tool has strengths and limits. We will walk through both, so you know where AI helps your brand and where it does not.

Responsibility: how we show up before the work

Responsibility is the widest of the three principles. Ethical AI depends heavily on preparation and judgment, before a single deliverable exists. It covers what we choose to bring to the table on your behalf. We see three commitments here.

Respect for intellectual property

We use AI tools that generate work from approved references or from scratch. We also attribute human and AI contributions whenever that matters. A tool that recycles someone else’s protected work still produces plagiarism. That holds true whether a person or a model did the recycling. Protecting your brand means protecting it from that risk. So we stay deliberate about what goes into the tools and where the output comes from.

Responsible AI tool selection

We choose tools that can reflect our own values in their outputs. Just as important, we prioritize providers that build their tools thoughtfully and fairly. We review and vet that software regularly for fairness, security, and transparency. When a tool stops meeting the standard, we drop it and find one that does. This is the same discipline we bring to AI brand governance. The goal is to keep quality and consistency high as the toolset shifts underneath us.

AI as a creative partner

We use AI to extend human creativity, and the ideas still start with people. That distinction matters to us. The work you hire us for depends on taste, craft, and judgment, which a model cannot supply on its own. Speed is a real benefit, and we will use it. Even so, the best ideas still need time and human hands to surface. For more on that balance, see why the creative journey cannot be rushed, even by AI.

Accountability: how we stand behind the work after

Responsibility and accountability go hand in hand. Preparation means little without a person standing behind the result. Accountability is our ability to justify a piece of work after it is finished. In short, we are accountable for our output, no matter which tools we used to get there. We hold two commitments here.

Human oversight and bias auditing

A person reviews every output of our AI tools before it reaches you. Nothing ships to a client straight from a model. If we used AI to help build a deliverable, we can discuss every element of it. Raw, unreviewed output is not work we will put our name on. The stakes are real. In research published by the IAB, 70% of marketers reported at least one AI-related incident, such as a hallucinated fact or off-brand content. Forty percent had to pause or pull work as a result. You can see our approach in practice in how our associate creative director actually uses AI in creative operations.

Ethical use of your data

We do not feed your data into AI models for training without your explicit permission. We also work to keep strong practices around data security and confidentiality throughout. Different tools handle data differently, and their default settings vary in quality. So we pay attention to what each tool does with the information you share. When a project involves proprietary information, we confirm your permission before it goes near a model. A new category of tool does not change the confidentiality we have signed up for.

A word on bias

It is worth being plain about this. AI tools carry real bias, and they are only as good as the information they receive. They cannot think for themselves. A person has to think for them at each step. That is exactly why human oversight sits at the center of our accountability commitment. Left unchecked, that same tendency can quietly flatten what makes a brand distinct. We explore that risk in our look at the new brand drift. Keeping a person in the loop protects both accuracy and the character of your brand. In practice, that human check is the heart of sound AI brand governance.

Meeting you where you are

Brands come to us with very different postures toward AI. Some partners cannot use certain tools and want us to handle that work for them. Others require their own approved models. Still others want to lean in further. We adapt to whatever level of AI involvement fits your policies and your comfort. We also stay transparent about it at every step. For the duration of the work, your guidelines become our guidelines.

This is a living practice

Ethics must remain fluid to adapt to frequent change, and there is no finality here. People will hold different views of what counts as transparent or responsible, and that debate is healthy. These tools and our use of them will keep changing, so our point of view will too. We treat this as an ongoing conversation, at the company level and on each project. We are comfortable with the reality that these questions are not permanently solved.

So consider this the start of a conversation we intend to keep having with you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an AI code of ethics?

An AI code of ethics is a public statement of how an organization commits to using artificial intelligence responsibly. For a content agency, it usually spans transparency, responsibility, and accountability for the work. It tells clients and partners what to expect before, during, and after AI touches a project.

Does Column Five use AI in its work?

Yes. We use AI tools alongside the rest of our creative stack, and we are transparent about it. AI extends what our team can do, and the ideas and final judgment still come from people.

Will you tell us which AI tools you used on our project?

Yes. If you want to know what we used to make something, just ask. We will walk you through which tools were involved and where, including where AI had limits.

Do you use our data to train AI models?

No, not without your explicit permission. We keep strong practices around data security and confidentiality. We also watch how each tool handles your data, because default settings differ from one tool to the next.

Does a human review AI-assisted work before we see it?

Yes. A person reviews and refines every AI-assisted output before it reaches you. We do not send raw model output to clients, and we stand behind every element of what we deliver.

Can we set limits on how you use AI for our brand?

Yes. Some partners restrict certain tools, some require their own, and some want us to use more. We adapt to your policies and stay transparent, so your guidelines govern the work from start to finish.

What should I ask a content agency about how it uses AI?

Start with a few questions. Will they tell you which AI tools they used? How do they protect your data and your intellectual property? Who reviews AI output before it reaches you? And how do they vet the tools they rely on? Clear answers point to a partner who takes AI brand governance seriously.

Our Code of Ethics for AI in Content Systems

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