• by Joe Mandese , April 18, 2025

Given the rapid rise of artificial intelligence in advertising and media buying, the Institute for Advertising Ethics (IAE) Thursday announced the rollout of a new ethical certification process covering the ad industry’s use of AI.

The announcement, which follows new ethical AI standards released earlier in the week by the Alliance for Audited Media, comes as the use of generative AI, more advanced forms of agentic AI, and well-established algorithmic target and machine learning flood the advertising ecosystem, raising new questions about appropriateness and blurring the line of industry best practices.

“Advertisers, platforms, and consumers are asking: ‘Can we trust what we see?’ – and more critically, ‘Can we trust how it got there?’,” IAE President Andrew Susman noted in a statement announcing the new ethical certification program.

Like others established by the IAE -- including its seminal one covering ethics generally for advertising professionals, as well as one addressing so-called “greenwashing” -- the new AI program includes a 90-minute, self-administered series of online education and testing modules, which lead to the granting of a new AI Integrity Shield ad execs can use to show their certification.

The program, developed with input from leading ethicists, technologists, and enterprise partners, is intended to establish a cross-industry foundation for trust, transparency, and accountability in AI deployment.

The new AI Integrity Shield explicitly covers:

• Generative AI & synthetic media (e.g., deepfakes, AI influencers).

• Data ethics, privacy, consent & algorithmic transparency.

• Human-centered design for autonomous systems.

• AI governance to reduce brand risk & regulatory exposure.