Your newsroom likely already has an AI policy if you've incorporated AI tools into your workflow. But if not, it's still worth clarifying your position to your audience. That’s because they might assume you’re using it, and research from Trusting News shows that could affect how they view and value your journalism. So go on the record now to say that your work is by humans, for humans.
We know you're busy, so we're here to help. Before you use the policy builder below, you'll need a couple of basic pieces of information:
1. Are you sure no tools, such as any transcription tools you use, use AI?
2. Why did you decide not to use AI and how does that relate to your newsroom’s mission?
Once you can answer those two questions (and the answer to the first question is yes), you are ready to publish your policy. Fill in your details below and copy the result straight to your website's "About" section:
That's it; that's all you need for now. If you want to take it a step further, click + Add the extended version (about your journalists) in the builder above. We recommend this because research has found that people are more likely to trust information if they know how it was created. Plus, it's good to let your audience get to know your staff better so they have trusted journalists to turn to in an increasingly robot-mediated world.
We know this is a nuanced process, and you might have things you want to add or take away from this template. Feel free to do so. You can also consider sharing it with your audience on other channels, such as social media or your newsletter, so they know it's there.
But if you want to dive further into how to develop your AI policy, Indiegraf is hosting a webinar on May 28 with Trusting News on creating your AI (or no-AI) policy to build trust with your audience. Register below to reserve your spot.
Indiegraf is the operating system for independent local media.
