AI Policy

Read our AI Policy for the Words in Winter literary festival. Learn about our policies and commitments to our community.

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Words in Winter Festival

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy
Version: 1.0 (Approved 28.03.26)

Words in Winter is a volunteer-run literary festival that values creativity, authorship, community knowledge and human collaboration. We recognise that artificial intelligence tools are now part of everyday work, and we support their responsible use where they help us operate efficiently while maintaining the integrity of the festival.

This policy explains how AI may be used in festival planning, marketing and administration. Our policy reflects concerns raised across the arts sector about the need to protect creators’ rights and ensure that new technologies do not undermine the value of human creative work.

AI Will Not Replace Human Work

Words in Winter is a festival about writing, storytelling and ideas. For this reason, AI will not be used to replace the creative work of authors, artists, speakers or contributors.

  • We do not present AI-generated writing as the work of a human author.
  • We do not use AI to create fictional biographies, event descriptions or artist statements without review.
  • We do not use AI to make programming decisions without human discussion.
  • We do not use AI to generate or manipulate images or video of people without their explicit permission and approval from the festival committee.

Human judgement remains central to the festival.

Where AI May Be Used

AI may be used for administrative and operational tasks such as:

  • Writing & Communication: drafting emails or documents, editing or summarising text, generating captions or marketing copy, ensuring consistency in line with the festival style guide.
  • Planning & Organisation: brainstorming ideas, formatting information, organising data, creating plans, internal communications, manuals or schedules.
  • Administration: transcribing notes, creating budgets and project management templates, drafting contracts and pro-formas.

All public-facing content is reviewed by a human before publication.

Words in Winter & AI Use COMMITMENTS

The festival makes the following commitments to our community, our volunteers, and our contributors:

  1. Commitment to Human Authorship: We commit that all creative work presented under the Words in Winter banner—stories, poems, essays, and scripts—will be the original work of a human author.
  2. Commitment to Accessibility: We commit to supporting volunteers and team members who use AI tools to meet their access needs or improve their workflow. No one will be prohibited from using AI to participate equitably.
  3. Commitment to Transparency: We commit to being open with our audience. If AI tools are used to generate or significantly shape public-facing content (such as website copy or marketing materials), we will disclose this clearly and simply.
  4. Commitment to Accuracy: We commit that all AI-assisted content will be fact-checked, edited, and approved by a human team member before publication. We take full responsibility for the accuracy of our communications.
  5. Commitment to Fairness to Writers: We commit that AI will never be used to edit, rewrite, or interfere with the work of submitting authors. An author's voice and intent will always be respected and preserved.
  6. Commitment to Festival Integrity: We commit to regularly reviewing these guidelines as technology evolves, ensuring that Words in Winter remains a genuine celebration of the written and spoken word, crafted by human hands.

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