To use AI or not to? That is not the question...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere. It has crept into Google searches, it's being used by medical professionals to take notes and perhaps most importantly, it's being used for day-to-day work by 88% of charities in the UK according to the latest Charity Digital Skills Report.

In 2025, the Charity AI Task Force was set up to champion responsible, inclusive and collaborative use of AI in the charity sector. The Charities Aid Foundation have asked over 6,000 people in 10 countries about their views on charities using AI. Resources, top tip and reports are being published at the speed of light.

AI, without doubt, is here for the foreseeable future.

So should we use AI or not? That is not really the question anymore.

The question is how will we use it ethically and safely? How do we move beyond using ChatGPT to re-write a blog and train it to improve the way we work? And how, with all the noise for and against AI, do we make mindful choices about when to use it and when not to?

My personal fear of AI

I must admit, I was a very slow starter with AI. As a creative professional, it felt like the beginning of the end. And to some extent, part of me still worries about that - will AI take all the copywriting jobs in the world? Who will need to develop a charity marketing strategy with their team and stakeholders if AI can write it for them? Don't even get me started on drafting a vision, mission and values! Then I remember that no machine in the world is me, with my unique insights and experiences, and I exhale.

I was also extremely concerned about the bias present in AI. Bias in AI occurs when a system produces results that favour or discriminate against certain groups. AI draws on what is available digitally in the world - and a lot of that information has been informed by prejudices, underrepresentation and inaccurate histories. For example, machine learning algorithms used to diagnosis skin cancer are not as accurate for diverse skin tones and minority populations. Or take content generation - something many organisations use AI for - which has been shown to reproduce racist or gender stereotypes.

Perhaps my ultimate fear around using AI is that we will genuinely forget how to communicate. I see so much content being generated by AI on charity websites, social media feeds, campaigns, blogs - and my first thought is, if they cannot be bothered to write it, then why should I bother to read it? Time is precious and I don't want to spend mine reading something from ChatGPT - I want to communicate on a human level, I want to feel like I'm engaging with an organisation that cares about me. And I want to create content that does this too - because my craft is important to me and I value the skills I have spent so long building.

A very real difference to our lives

When I discuss my fear of AI, people regularly say things like 'well everyone banned books when they were first printed because they thought they were evil!' To me, however, this argument doesn't hold up - 'they' have banned lots of silly things over the years throughout history, but lots of extremely harmful things have been banned too.

Just because it's new doesn't make it scary - my fear comes from the knowledge of the very real difference AI will make to our world in the future. Not necessarily bad differences, but there's no doubt it will transform the way we work, live, think and love. To me, that deserves serious consideration when I think about how I personally use AI or when I am asked to use it by my clients.

AI and marketing

I am often asked by charities how they should be using AI in their marketing - most commonly, they want to use AI to generate social media posts and blogs. I almost always advise against doing this. There are lots of ways AI can help charities with their marketing, but content creation, in my opinion, is not one of them. I do not use AI in my own content creation, and I don't think others should either.

It seems like a hard line to take - what's the harm in using AI to generate 20 quick social media posts for your charity? Or to simply explain complex information in a blog? Well, quite a bit in my experience.

Firstly, there are the basics of any marketing content - does it align to your overall marketing strategy, does it connect with your audience and does it reflect your brand tone? AI will be able to mimic these things pretty well, but nobody knows your strategy, audience and brand like you do.

Secondly, AI isn't perfect - and it doesn't even realise. Of course, we aren't perfect either, but at least we are usually aware of this - we might ask a colleague for insights, get someone to proof read our copy or run an idea by a group for feedback. AI doesn't do that - it confidently gives you the content it believes you need. This can include fabricated imagery, reinforced stereotypes or factual errors.

Thirdly, and most importantly to me, what you do matters. Your charity exists because people need your support - people who are seeking humanity and connection. I think it is vital that charities invest in their marketing (well, I am biased on that front!) because without clear, accessible communication, you will not reach the people who need you or want to support you.

Using AI to generate your content will make it exactly like all the other AI generated content out there. You can edit it all you like, but the human mind can recognise these things on a subconscious level (at least for now). The formatting will not be accessible enough (we know how much AI loves an emoji for social media posts!) and ultimately, you will be communicating more often, but without impact.

If your charity matters - and really does want to make a difference in this world - you need to lead with humanity when you communicate.

How I use AI

So, how do I use AI? In a mindful way and only if it has genuine benefits to me.

Despite my opinion that AI should not be used for content creation, I do use AI in other ways. I find it particularly useful for idea generation (i.e. give me ideas for social media posts about XXX) and for research (what are people saying about XXX). I also use systems with built in AI - like Canva, Mailchimp and website design tools. Anything that helps me streamline processes or allows me to test my own knowledge on a subject is extremely useful.

A lot of people talk about how AI saves time - yet to me, taking my time and working through something makes me better at my job. Also, a study in 2024 found that 77% of employees actually reported an increase in workloads because of AI.

I am in a lucky position, as I work for myself, so I can schedule in creative thinking time and give myself permission to enjoy getting stuck into a task that others would think is boring or time consuming. I appreciate that charity marketing professionals do not have this luxury and have hundreds of competing priorities. My advice - it is better to do less, but higher quality, marketing. If you are rushing your marketing, your audience will know.

When I consider using AI, I always ask myself if I really need to. Will it lead to better results (not just quicker results)? Will it enhance my skills and knowledge, or dilute them? Am I just being lazy (sometimes I am!) or am I genuinely struggling with something AI may be able to simplify for me? I am a big fan of working smarter, not harder - but not at the expense of my own cognitive thinking abilities. I don't always need a shortcut - sometimes the best lessons are in the actual doing.

Above all, I always ask myself if what I am producing will still feel authentic and human? If I used AI to write this blog for example, it may give lots of information about AI uses and people's usual fears, but it wouldn't include my very personal fears and experiences. It could, however, pull quotes from others about their lived experience - would this make it feel more human? I don't personally think so, but I am in the business of lived experience so here I may be bringing my own bias!

How charities can use AI

Charities, like all organisations, are always evolving. The use of AI is no different. Here's my top tips...

• Use AI for making processes easier - automation, logging information, segmenting, analysing, cleaning systems

• Use AI to generate alternative text for your images or to make documents more accessible

• Create an AI policy, so your supporters and beneficiaries know how you are using it ethically and safely

• Always check copyright, especially around images

• Ask yourself, does using AI align with your mission, vision and values? If you are a charity fighting climate change, how will using AI undermine your position? If you are a charity offering services face to face, does using AI devalue this?

• If you are using it to create content, always clearly state this. It builds trust and transparency and reassures the reader that a human has had final editing control

There are some really useful resources if you're looking at how to use AI effectively...

• This article from Charity Digital explores what charities are doing, and ideas for using AI well

• This article from the Directory of Social Change looks at how AI is helping charity marketers do more

• This guidance from NCVO looks at how AI can help small charities

• This guidance from the Fundraising Regulator looks at how to use AI in fundraising

However you use AI, I hope you take your time exploring this new world. It's exciting, it's uncanny and it's here to stay. Good luck!