AI Policy

A NOTE FROM BIG MARK

AI is a useful tool that I use every day in my work. But it also puts small business owners like me in a moral quandary.

There are real questions about data, consent, copyright and the way work is changing. Those concerns matter, and I do not think they should be brushed aside.

At the same time, the reality is that if I chose not to use AI, Big Mark Studio would struggle to compete. The way people search for information has fundamentally changed, and the way websites are researched, built, tested and understood is changing with it.

So I use AI deliberately, not blindly. I remain responsible for the decisions I make, the information I share and the work I deliver. My aim is to use these tools in a way that helps me do better work without pretending the wider questions have been solved.

HOW AI IS USED

Big Mark Studio uses artificial intelligence and AI-assisted tools as part of its day-to-day work. Depending on the project or business need, these tools may support research, planning, content strategy, writing, design exploration, website development, code, documentation, troubleshooting, testing, quality assurance, technical audits, information organisation, retrieval, summarisation, analysis and record maintenance.

AI may be used as an assistant that suggests or drafts work. Authorised AI agents may also carry out bounded work directly within relevant systems, such as editing website content, configuring page elements, reviewing code, checking implementation details, creating or maintaining authorised records, organising information or supporting project continuity.

AI tools and agents may work with authorised business, client, project, support and operational records where reasonably necessary for the task. They are not the underlying record-storage system: Big Mark Studio maintains its own authorised information systems and records.

HUMAN DIRECTION AND RESPONSIBILITY

AI tools and agents work under Big Mark Studio’s direction and authority. They may help produce work, review work or carry out authorised bounded work, but they do not independently make material business or policy decisions, make client commitments, approve material changes, complete final human-review decisions or publish a client website where human approval is required.

• Direction: Big Mark sets the purpose, approach and boundaries for the work.
• Bounded execution: AI tools or agents may carry out authorised routine operational or project work within an established scope.
• Review: Material decisions and final deliverables are reviewed before they are supplied, relied on or published where appropriate.
• Responsibility: Big Mark Studio remains responsible for the accuracy, quality and suitability of the work delivered.

This does not mean Big Mark manually approves every routine AI or agent action one by one. It means AI and agent work must remain within authorised boundaries, and Big Mark Studio remains accountable for the outcome.

WEBSITE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

• Planning and exploration: AI may be used to research requirements, question assumptions, explore structures, prepare content plans, develop concepts and test possible directions.
• Design and build: AI-assisted and agent-based processes may help create or edit layouts, page elements, component settings, content structures, metadata, schema and code within appropriate design and website-building tools.
• Development and troubleshooting: AI may help write, review or explain code, investigate technical problems, document decisions and identify possible fixes.
• Testing and auditing: AI may assist with accessibility checks, content review, quality assurance, technical audits and other detailed checks. Some tests still require human judgement, a browser, a real device or specialist testing.

GRAPHICS

• Background editing: AI tools may be used to remove objects, extend backgrounds or make similar adjustments.
• Storyboards and early mockups: AI may be used to generate rough concepts, storyboards and exploratory mockups.
• Logo and graphic creation: AI-generated material may inform early exploration, but unedited AI-generated graphics will not be supplied as finished original design work. Final work will be refined and completed using appropriate design tools.

COPYWRITING

AI language models may be used to research a subject, brainstorm ideas, question the structure of a page, draft or revise wording, check grammar and consistency, and explore different approaches.

Final copy is reviewed and shaped for the client, audience and project. AI output is not treated as automatically accurate, original or suitable simply because it is well written.

Claims, facts, names, prices, policy meaning and business commitments should be checked before being relied on.

IMAGES AND PHOTOGRAPHY

• Image editing: AI-powered tools such as generative fill and object removal may be used in image-editing software, including Adobe Photoshop.
• Ethical considerations: Body shapes, personal features or other meaningful aspects of a person’s appearance will not be altered without their explicit consent or another clear and appropriate basis.
• Headshots: Headshots are typically retouched using traditional, non-generative editing techniques. Any material alteration will be discussed where appropriate.
• Synthetic imagery: AI-generated or substantially AI-altered images will not be presented as documentary photography or an unaltered record of a real event.
• Image alt text: AI may assist with image descriptions and alt text, but the final wording will be reviewed for accuracy, context and usefulness.

THIRD-PARTY ASSETS

• Commissioned photography:
  • Big Mark Studio may commission photographers to capture images for a website or related project.
  • Photographers commissioned by Big Mark Studio will be asked to shoot and provide the images in RAW format for editing by Big Mark Studio.
  • Images edited by Big Mark Studio will be handled in accordance with this AI Policy.
• Stock libraries and supplied assets:
  • Images and other assets may be sourced from third-party libraries or supplied by clients and collaborators.
  • Big Mark Studio will make reasonable efforts to understand the source, licence and permitted use of material included in final work.
  • Where practical, providers with clear AI, contributor and licensing policies will be preferred.
  • Because provider practices change, Big Mark Studio cannot guarantee that generative AI has never been used in every third-party asset.

COPYRIGHT AND ORIGINALITY

AI output is not automatically assumed to be original, accurate, copyright-safe, licensable or free of third-party rights. Material intended for final client work will be considered in context, including its source, licence, similarity to existing work and the rights of creators and other people involved.

• Copyrighted or licensed source material will not be treated as free to use merely because it can be accessed or processed by an AI tool.
• Attribution does not replace permission where permission is required.
• Work that closely imitates an identifiable creator, brand or protected work will not knowingly be presented as original Big Mark Studio work.
• Clients remain responsible for having the right to supply material they provide for use in a project.

New Zealand copyright law and policy concerning generative AI remains unsettled in important respects, so Big Mark Studio takes a cautious approach rather than treating AI-generated material as automatically safe to use.

CLIENT INFORMATION AND PRIVACY

Some AI-assisted work may involve processing client-supplied information, personal information, confidential information or authorised internal records through third-party services. Big Mark Studio limits information to what is reasonably necessary, reduces identifying details where practical and takes particular care with confidential or sensitive material.

AI-assisted tools may work with authorised business, client, project, support and operational records where reasonably necessary for the task. When conversations, notes, transcripts or other source material are used to create internal records or reusable knowledge, Big Mark Studio aims to carry forward only the personal information reasonably necessary for the resulting purpose. Where identity is not materially useful, identifying details are reduced or removed where practical. This is not a guarantee of anonymisation, and source material may still be retained where there is a legitimate reason to do so.

Third-party AI or cloud processing is also subject to relevant privacy, security, retention and overseas-processing considerations. Full information about how personal information is collected, used, disclosed, stored and protected is set out in the Big Mark Studio Privacy Policy.

YOUR CHOICES

• Client-supplied material: A client may ask for limits on how their supplied images, text, personal information or confidential material are processed using generative AI services. Requests should preferably be made before the relevant work begins. Requests made later will be considered based on what has already been processed and what can reasonably be changed.
• AI-free projects: A request for an entirely AI-free project must be discussed and agreed before work begins. It may affect the available process, scope, timing, cost and tool choices, and Big Mark Studio cannot guarantee that every third-party platform, software product, stock library, website builder, cloud service or operating system contains no AI-assisted functionality.
• Questions and concerns: Clients are encouraged to raise concerns before supplying sensitive material or whenever they are unsure how AI may be used in their project.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

Big Mark Studio will continue to review its use of AI and may update this policy as its practices, tools, law, provider terms or applicable requirements change.

This policy explains Big Mark Studio’s current approach to AI-assisted work. Any specific restrictions or requirements should be discussed and agreed before the relevant work begins.

Last updated: 13 August 2026.