At our latest Coffee & Conversations event, we dove into one of the buzziest topics of the year: artificial intelligence. With AI tools showing up in more and more corners of our work, it was the perfect time to sit down with two experts from Fredrikson—Steve Helland and Courtney Thompson—to unpack what’s happening at the intersection of AI, advertising, and the law.
Over coffee and breakfast, Steve and Courtney shared what they’re seeing in the legal landscape and then broke out into smaller groups for discussion sessions, where attendees could ask questions, swap use cases, and compare how AI is showing up in their own worlds.
What We Learned
Here are some of the high-level takeaways that sparked great conversation in the room:
Bias vs. Creativity: AI tools are working hard to reduce bias, but sometimes that can come at the expense of creativity or originality.
Think Before You Prompt: Be careful what you feed into AI—free versions especially. Confidential info and trade secrets don’t belong in public tools. Paid or enterprise-level tools are generally more secure.
Policies Matter: Companies should create clear AI policies so employees know what’s okay (and what’s not) when using these tools.
Laws Are Coming: Colorado’s new AI Act (taking effect in 2026) is the first state law of its kind and could set the tone for other states.
Copyright & AI: Right now, only human authorship is protected under copyright law. AI can play a role in creating a work, but it has to be disclosed—and only the human contributions are copyrightable.
Truth in Advertising Still Rules: From FTC rules on fake reviews to questions around synthetic influencers, the golden rule hasn’t changed: don’t mislead consumers.
Beyond the Legal Stuff
Our discussion also stretched into some bigger-picture topics, like the ethics of AI, how it might change hiring and recruiting, what it means for schools and kids, and even the rise of “vibe coding.” A couple of tools that got name-dropped: Cursor for coding experiments and Gamma for presentations.
Final Thought
AI is moving fast—faster than most of us can keep up with. But the energy in the room made it clear: our community is eager to learn, share, and figure it out together. Huge thanks to Fredrikson, Steve, and Courtney for guiding us through the conversation, and to everyone who joined us for another great morning of connection and curiosity.