Bradford Lit Fest apologises and withdraws AI image

The Bradford Literary Festival has issued a statement apologising for the use of AI-generated images and withdrawing the previous pictures online.

The statement, which follows weeks of controversy, also states that the event will not use AI in future and acknowledges there should have been more explicit guidance given for their promotional materials.

Last month a tweet sharing the line-up for the 2023 festival was accompanied by an animated image of a young girl wearing a hijab and headphones while reading. Many authors and illustrators pointed out the use of AI, criticising the Bradford Literary Festival (BLF) and said it infringed on creators’ work. The event’s artistic director defended its use of the picture, as did the brand agency Lazenby Brown which sourced the image for the event.

In the same week, the Society of Authors (SoA) published its first stance on AI, in response to the recent government white paper on AI regulation in the UK, suggesting “it is unlikely to reassure writers, illustrators, translators and other creative professionals, whose livelihoods are already being negatively affected by these technologies”.

Now the BLF has issued a lengthy statement on its website apologising for the use of AI which reads: “In light of the recent dialogue surrounding the use of AI-generated images in our 2023 brand refresh, we wanted to provide context of the process behind the use of these images – and more importantly, what action we’re taking as a result of the conversations we’ve had over the past week. We would firstly like to apologise for the hurt caused.

“As a multi-artform festival, Bradford Literature Festival is absolutely committed to supporting creative careers – a founding principle of the festival – and the rights of creatives. We regret that the creation of some images used in our recent brand refresh does not align with these commitments.”

The statement also described how BLF, as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company, regularly commissions artists and illustrators, and pays the market rate for all services. It described how event organisers and Lazenby Brown – which employs only three people as well as local freelancers – had made a mistake in using AI.

The BLF wrote: “For 2023, we retained a small, local commercial design agency to create this year’s promotional campaign as part of an update of the BLF brand. We did not explicitly commission the illustrations or the use of AI, but neither did we explicitly exclude them from our brief. With hindsight, the agency should have been more explicit about the use of AI tools, and we should have fully interrogated their process. Going forward, we will ensure our processes are more robust and that we explicitly exclude the commissioning of AI-generated images from the outset.

“Since the issues were brought to our attention, we have stopped using images with AI elements across our platforms and these images have been replaced with licensed stock images amended by an in-house designer. “This conversation has taken place after we have started to distribute digital and printed promotional assets for 2023, the festival begins in six weeks. However, we will not be able to replace the AI generated images in materials that have already gone to print.”

Organisers also alluded to their earlier statement about the “seismic changes” of AI and how this year’s line-up will explore this topic.

“We have been, and always will be, staunch defenders of the creative industries,” the statement reads. “We are reviewing our processes and the way we work with partners to ensure this does not happen again. We commit to not commissioning AI-generated imagery and to continuing to retain and pay fair rates to illustrators and other artists.

“There was never any intention to cause any harm; we thank those who have spoken up and apologise sincerely for the hurt this has caused.”

The statement also described how organisers appreciate “the incredible skill and creativity of illustrators”, and “welcome the opportunity to continue discussing this topic, and are currently considering more opportunities to do so in light of the ongoing conversation”.