Hi Reader!

Two documents leave your office this week. Both drafted with AI. Both signed off in a hurry on a Friday.

The first is an options report on a private commercial fit-out, prepared for a paying client. Perfectly fine. Internal-to-client work, no label needed, nothing to declare.

The second is a public consultation statement for a council flood-defence scheme your firm is bidding on. Same tool, same engineer, same five minutes of polish. That one now needs a visible "AI-assisted" note at the very top, the first thing a reader sees. Miss it, and the breach carries a top fine of €15 million or 3% of worldwide turnover.

The only difference between the two? The intended audience. The moment a document informs the public on a matter of public interest, eg. a planning submission, a consultation brochure, an environmental statement, a project update on a publicly funded scheme, then you need to label your work if you used AI.

Another thing worth knowing, you do not have to be audited to be exposed.
​A rival bidder or a disgruntled client can now file a complaint that you have used AI and not labelled it, and the regulator can come asking for your records. Panic-filling paperwork after the fact carries its own separate fine of €7.5 million or 1% of turnover. Getting ready early is not caution. It's the cheap option.

Think this doesn't apply to you?

53% of AEC firms are now using AI tools, and 94% of those plan to spend more on it next year.

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​This Week on ChattingGPT : Alan Thornton

It's kind of fitting that this week's guest on the ChattingGPT podcast is Alan Thornton. He is the founder of a governance platform that acts as a system of record for AI trust across the EU, UK and beyond. It's a great episode that will help you turn the legal fog into a short list of things you can actually do.

We get into the public-interest test that decides whether content needs a label, how to properly inventory your AI use cases (a spreadsheet will not cut it), and the fines, including that sneaky second one for panicking.

🎧 Apple Podcasts​
🎧 Spotify​

Three questions worth asking before Monday

Not a lawyer's checklist, just the three that tell you where you stand. If you or your team cannot answer them, you are not behind, most firms cannot either. But they are worth knowing:

1. Who used AI on client-facing or public work this week?
2. Which of that work now needs a transparency label?
3. If a regulator asked for your records tomorrow, what would you hand over?

None of these need a lawyer. They need a named owner. That is the whole game.

Free Webinar: The EU AI Act, Made Plain

If those three questions made you pause, good. On Thursday 17 September at 12pm, we are running a free 45 minute session that turns the worry into a plan. You walk out able to spot which of your AI work needs a label, name who should sign it off, and know what the fines really are before you ever meet one.

The EU AI Act, your staff, your risk : ignorance is no defence

Ninety minutes that could save your firm a very expensive letter. You will walk away able to:

• Spot the difference between a private client report that is fine and a public-scheme document that now needs a label, using real built environment examples, not legal abstractions.
• Name who in your firm should own the sign-off, and know exactly what a regulator expects to see when they ask for your records.
• Understand the release valve that eases the labelling duty, and how to build it into how your project teams already work.
• See where high-risk begins, the AI uses in hiring, bid screening and cost decisions that carry far heavier obligations from 2027.
• Ask your own questions live. Bring your firm's specific situation to the Q&A.

Hear from Jan Carroll and Stephen Redmond, two of Ireland's most experienced and sharpest minds on the implications of this for business, walk away with peace of mind and an idea of how to stay on the right side.

Who should be in the room: MDs, bid and QS teams, project and design leads, and anyone with a sign-off or compliance role.

17 September 2026 · 12 - 12.45pm · online · free · live Q&A

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​ Places are limited. Save your seat for Webinar.
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​Autumn Courses filling fast

If you are thinking of getting some AI training for your team, act now before it's too late.
The autumn courses are selling fast and this is your last chance to learn with us until 2027!

We've got public courses for non-built environment people: Copilot AI Skills, Claude, Beginner Core.
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And we've a great range of specific courses for AEC people: Bids Teams, Copilot for Finance Teams, Design Teams, Beginners, Claude, and more.

Thanks for reading.

AI Institute