Furniture industry urged to balance AI innovation with responsible safeguards

Furniture businesses must combine enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) with robust safeguards to protect their intellectual property, confidential information and commercial interests.

That was the message from Dids Macdonald OBE, chair of Anti Copying in Design (ACID) and Past Master of The Furniture Makers’ Company, at a recent British Furniture Association conference at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

Addressing industry professionals, Dids described what is currently understood about AI as “minimal and exciting”, while warning that the unknown risks remain daunting.

AI is already transforming areas including design, visualisation, marketing, customer service, forecasting and procurement. However, Dids urged businesses to consider who owns AI-generated material, what data is being used and how confidential information is protected.

She recommended that companies introduce a clear workplace AI policy specifying which tools are approved, what information must never be entered and how outputs should be checked. Human oversight remains essential, particularly when AI is used to produce product specifications, technical advice, marketing claims or commercial documents.

ACID continues to campaign alongside creators through the Make it FAIR campaign, calling for transparency, accountability, attribution, labelling and recompense in generative AI.

Dids concluded: “Used responsibly, with the right guardrails in place, AI can and should be transformative.”