Past Event: When to use AI in creative work?
An in-person event held at 6.30pm on Monday September 14th 2026 at The Conduit.
Event Description
This event brought together a panel of creative professionals to debate one of 2026's biggest questions: when should you use AI in creative work?
AI is now part of daily work for journalists, marketing professionals, newsletter writers, and authors. Many use it for research. But more and more, it’s being used for writing as well.
But where’s the line between a creative aid and a shortcut that undermines the work itself?
It's now widely accepted that journalists can use AI for research and interview preparation. But should AI write their articles? Should newsletter writers get AI to turn notes into finished posts? Is it acceptable for a busy comms team to let AI draft press releases and LinkedIn updates? For authors, what's the difference between using AI to brainstorm ideas and relying on it to write paragraphs or even parts of chapters? And what about AI in music composition or art and design?
As AI-assisted work becomes more commonly used and harder to detect, many industries are being forced to compile new rules around creative work – without much consensus on what those rules should be.
This discussion event was held in partnership with The Conduit.
Event Panel
Babita Sharma (Chair) – presenter, broadcaster and journalist with more than 20 years' experience at BBC World News, BBC Breakfast and BBC World Service. She has hosted the World AI Summit for five years, and is the author of The Corner Shop and the children's series The Adventures of Priya Mistry, with a new book on India's partition due July 2027.
Nadim Sadek - founder and CEO of Shimmr AI, winner of AI Startup of the Year London 2024, Frankfurt 2025, FutureBook 2025, and the International Publishers Association’s 2026 ‘Innovation in Publishing’ Laureate. Nadim is author of Shimmer, don’t Shake - how Publishing can Embrace AI and Quiver, don’t Quake - how Creativity can Embrace AI (Mensch, 2023, 2025).
Nigel Dacre - a journalist, writer and media executive. He is a former Editor of ITV News, in charge of programmes like News at Ten and the ITN News Channel. He is currently President of the Media Society and chair of the digital production company Inclusive Digital.
Katie McPhee – founder of Expanded Future, helping organisations adopt AI responsibly. She is also the AI for Good Expert in Residence at The Conduit. Katie previously held leadership roles at the BBC, Eventbrite, VEED, and in 2023 co-founded the first climate/AI hackathon series, 'Earth AI'.
Event Schedule
6.00 pm: Pre-event socialising and networking
6.30 pm: Panel discussion begins
7.30 pm: Panel discussion ends
Networking drinks before and after the discussion event with a pay bar.