LoginCTSI Conference 2025: Day Two
Artificial intelligence, unsafe cosmetic procedures and animal welfare were among the topics on the agenda.
Journal of Trading Standards Staff
Posted 18 June 2025 | JoTS Online
Content Tags: Updates|Inside Trading Standards|National
Day Two of CTSI’s 2025 Conference in Blackpool got off to a somewhat cloudy start – typical English summer weather, some might say – although conditions outside the Winter Gardens could do little to dim the spirits of those gathered within to engage in a series of seminars, masterclasses and networking events.
As on Day One, there was a smorgasbord of topics under discussion, representing the depth and breadth of Trading Standards’ duties and areas of interest. Some of the sessions focused on perennial Trading Standards issues – toy safety, food standards and animal feed being just a few examples – while others were more about horizon-scanning and getting to grips with a host of new and emerging challenges.
The morning’s main plenary session, ‘Tomorrow’s World – AI’ was one of the latter. It gave attendees a chance to hear from a panel of experts about whether artificial intelligence has the potential to act as a force for good for consumer protection, or whether it is more likely to bring about new dangers and opportunities for scammers and rogue businesses. The plenary was hosted by broadcaster and consumer rights journalist Martyn James, who welcome the audience with obvious enthusiasm.
“This is a subject that has a lot of resonance for all of us, because it’s not just about how we use AI, but about its impact,” he said. “It is a big concern, but it is here, and we are going to have to deal with it.”
If you want to beat scammers, don't start with AI - start with people
Chris Field, Chief Marketing Officer at Yoti, began his presentation with a video message from a familiar face: CTSI Chief Executive John Herriman appeared on screen to promote a once-in-a-lifetime ‘investment opportunity’, provoking one or two gasps, but mostly chuckles from the audience.
Any fears that Herriman had quit his day job were quickly allayed however when Field revealed that the video was, in fact, an AI-generated deepfake. Perhaps the scariest thing about it, Field said, was how easy it had been to create. The potential for similar videos to mislead consumers could, he said, be mitigated by the adoption of digital ID technology. “You need to give consumers the power to do something,” he said. “What we’re trying to say to people is if you’re worried, if something doesn’t seem quite right, you can use this technology to check whether someone is a real person. The tools do exist – please don’t be afraid to use them.”
Next up was Cenred Elworthy, CTSI’s Lead Officer for AI and Emerging Markets. His presentation placed AI within an historical context, highlighting the profound impact of technology – from the printing press to the microscope – on human behaviour, culture and relationships over the centuries. Elworthy took a philosophical view of AI’s implications, taking the audience on a whistle-stop tour of fake ‘catfish’ personas, Dead Internet Theory, the potential loss of trust that AI could result in, and its implications for creativity and intellectual property.
His thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining presentation concluded that regulators should “assist with the guardrails” of AI.
Francis Katamba, a lawyer at Brown Jacobson LLP, also gave a well-balanced overview of AI, specifically in terms of its legal implications, the problematic lack of transparency around its use, and the role of industry Codes and Standards in encouraging best practice around its implementation.
Louise Baxter, CTSI Lead Officer for Consumer Vulnerability and Education, gave an impassioned presentation next. “AI isn’t the real threat – we are,” she began, highlighting the prevalence of existing methods of scamming the public, and pointing to the fact that the use of AI by scammers is still in its relative infancy. Encouraging a more sophisticated understanding of consumer vulnerability in its many forms will, she said, be the most effective way of safeguarding people and beating scammers at their own game.
The consensus among the panel and the audience seemed to chime with this view – while AI does have the potential to be a force for both good and bad, it is the human agency and intention behind it that will really determine whether it proves to be a threat to consumers, or whether it could serve as a powerful tool to help protect them. As Baxter put it, “If you want to beat scammers, don’t start with AI – start with people.”
Spoilt for choice
The range of seminars and sessions elsewhere in the Winter Gardens created a quandary as old as the Conference itself: which ones to attend, and which ones to reluctantly miss out on. Highlights of the day included the ‘Institute Celebrates Success’ graduation ceremony, in which new recruits were welcomed into the Trading Standards fold; the College of Fellows Graduation Lunch; and a hard-hitting Masterclass session on the emerging dangers of unregulated cosmetic procedures.
This latter session, ‘The Ugly Truth’, was particularly impactful, highlighting the life-changing – and, in some cases, deadly – consequences of incompetently conducted cosmetic procedures. It also drew attention to the lack of safeguarding for children, teenagers and older people when being approached by cosmetic practitioners. CTSI will be conducting a campaign on the issue, and has called for evidence from Trading Standards teams to support its calls for action.
Elsewhere on Day Two’s agenda, a seminar session examined the links between organised crime and ghost number plates; there was an update on CTSI’s campaign work to reform the Animal Welfare Act; and a seminar focused on the Trading Standards implications of the upcoming Renters Rights Bill.
Day Two concludes with the annual CTSI and Status Awards Dinner and after-party – a well-deserved opportunity to celebrate the successes and achievements of the past 12 months.
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Content Tags: Updates|Inside Trading Standards|National
