A white paper authored by The Hague & Partners Convention Bureau and Ottawa Tourism will be released in December and will explore the ethical implications of AI usage across the global association event industry. The white paper will also show that 63% of association respondents think governments should legislate on the use of AI in event organising. However, 65% also think those same governments lack the required knowledge to be able to legislate effectively. Of particular concern for the respondents is the usage and retention of the data obtained by technology companies through AI.
- 20% of the respondents said that “not very” trustworthy.
- 13% said that AI technology providers are “not at all” trustworthy.
- 27% “mostly” trust the data providers.
- 52% of the respondents are in favour of an International Standard (ISO) to cover the usage of AI in events.
- 29% said “maybe” such a standard should be created; 7% said “no”.
- 50% of the corporate event organiser respondents are “slightly concerned” about the ethical implications of using AI in event organising.
- 71% of the corporate event organiser respondents think governments should legislate, but don’t think they have the knowledge to do so.
“AI is inevitable, and it is already impacting our lives in many ways,” comments Bas Schot, head of The Hague & Partners Convention Bureau. “It is all too easy to just think in terms of generative artificial intelligence, however, AI is so much more and we need to harness the power of it in a way that is ethical and positive for everyone.” Ottawa Tourism’s VP of Meeting and Major Events, Lesley Pincombe adds: “We wanted to go beyond discussions about what AI can do, to consider how we should be integrating it into our organisations at a human level. There is no denying AI can do incredible things. However, should we allow it; when should we apply the brakes, communicate better and focus on humanity rather than technology?” In addition to the survey, the white paper is being created following interviews and round table discussions with experts from the association and AI sectors.
