Bulletin #13: Building a Trustworthy Future in Advertising
Building Trustworthy Advertising in the Age of AI
Leaders across advertising, technology, law, finance, standards, academia, and public policy at the first IAE–IEEE SA Summit in New York.
Advertising helps people decide what to buy, believe, and support. When commercial information is credible, transparent, and accountable, consumers can choose with greater confidence, responsible businesses can compete more effectively, and innovation can advance on a more durable foundation.
Artificial intelligence makes that opportunity more consequential. The need for trustworthy governance is clear, immediate and certain.
The Institute for Advertising Ethics is a public-interest educational foundation now building the standards, professional capacity, and governance infrastructure required for trustworthy advertising in the age of AI. We welcome all comers.
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At a Glance
7,000+ IAE certifications complete
250+ participating companies, universities, and organizations
FTC engagement on accountability and emerging advertising risks
IEEE SA knowledge partnership on governance for AI-mediated advertising
AIRS established as a new industry-learning initiative
Summit II Confirmed
October 12, 2026, | Venable LLP | New York
The second IAE–IEEE Standards Association second Summit, The Elements of Intention: Trustworthy Advertising in the Age of AI will convene a group of senior leaders from brands, agencies, institutional shareholders and venture investors, behavioral psychologists, technology companies, law, standards, academia, government, and public-interest institutions. Building on Summit I and the work of the resulting IEEE SA Industry Connections Group, Summit II will focus on the practical governance structures that allow organizations to innovate with greater confidence, including:
- human intention and oversight.
- organizational accountability.
- workflow controls and disclosure.
- privacy and safety.
- technical and operational conformance.
- evidence that responsible practices are operating effectively.
The work of the first summit was to surface and frame the issue. The work of this summit is to translate responsible intentions into practices that organizations can implement, evaluate, and demonstrate in the service of building confidence among consumers, business partners, regulators, and the public.
Advertising is becoming infrastructure. Its systems of trust and accountability must become infrastructure as well.
A Continuing and Constructive Dialogue with the FTC
In June, IAE’s President, Andrew Susman and Director of Curriculum and Assessment, Dr. Anna McAlister, met with Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Mark Meador and members of his staff to discuss emerging gaps in digital-advertising accountability, AI-mediated systems, and industry self-regulation.
We are grateful for the openness and collegiality of those conversations and for the opportunity to contribute constructively as the dialogue continues. Subsequent discussions have addressed consumer education, emerging advertising risks, professional training, and the role independent institutions can play in strengthening responsible market conduct.
IAE is honored to bring practical perspective from its work in professional education, incident reporting, industry governance, and AI-enabled advertising. Trustworthy markets depend on both credible public oversight and an industry capable of holding itself to meaningful, demonstrable standards.
AIRS: Learning From Advertising Incidents.
IAE has established the initial phase of the Advertising Incident Reporting System, AIRS.
AIRS is being developed as a structured resource for identifying emerging advertising risks, examining real-world incidents, and turning those incidents into shared knowledge.
Other consequential fields learn systematically from failure. Aviation examines incidents. Cybersecurity documents vulnerabilities. Medicine studies adverse outcomes.
Advertising requires a comparable learning capacity. This is particularly true as commercial communications become more automated, personalized, synthetic, and AI-mediated.
Markets earn trust not by claiming perfection, but by demonstrating that failures can be identified, examined, corrected, and prevented from recurring.
AIRS is intended to support:
- professional and university education;
- industry learning and continuous improvement;
- identification of recurring risks and emerging patterns;
- responsible market discipline; and
- informed engagement with policymakers and regulators.
Professional Capacity at Scale
More than 7,000 professionals across over 250 companies, universities, and organizations have participated in IAE certification programs.
The Institute’s curriculum addresses advertising ethics, artificial intelligence, influencer and creator integrity, privacy, sustainability, disclosure, and organizational accountability.
Professional education turns principles into shared expectations and repeatable practices. It gives people a common language for recognizing difficult choices, escalating concerns, and making decisions that protect both the public and the long-term interests of their organizations.
Together, IAE’s educational, governance, research, and incident-reporting efforts connect responsible conduct with consumer confidence, institutional credibility, and sustainable market success.
About IAE
The Institute for Advertising Ethics is a public-interest educational foundation building the standards, professional capacity, and governance infrastructure required for trustworthy advertising in the age of AI.
IAE helps organizations reduce risk, demonstrate accountability, and build the trust that enables responsible innovation, stronger relationships, and successful markets.
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