Artificial Intelligence and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) have expanded rapidly, bringing with them exciting new opportunities but also immense risk.
At ACoM, we’ve been exploring and experimenting with these emerging, evolving technologies while staying true to our core journalistic principles: transparency, accuracy, reliability, and engendering trust.
AI and GAI’s promise is substantial, from workflow management and research to factchecking and producing derivative content, such as reports and briefs.
As an organization that partners with and advocates for immigrant-serving ethnic and community media outlets, we also recognize AI and GAI’s potential in helping journalists and editors overcome critical language barriers.
But the risks are just as real, with credibility, accuracy, and transparency preeminent among them. AI and GAI’s own internal biases and blind spots have been well documented.
We see AI as a supplement to human capabilities, not a replacement. AI and GAI lack ethical judgment and the ability to build trust with sources. Furthermore, AI and GAI can actively propagate and even amplify harmful societal stereotypes. As a newsroom, we will guard against such practices by conducting periodic bias and ethics audits.
ACoM has always put the idea of “high touch” at the core of our work, whether that be reporting, organizing events or connecting with media partners. Above all else, we firmly believe that at the end of the day, it is the human — not an algorithm — that must remain at the center of our work.
In this document, we lay out our current policy on using AI and GAI in our newsroom. We will continue to update these guidelines as the technology evolves alongside our understanding of its promises and perils.
Recognizing the power and potential of AI and generative AI, we are open to using these technologies,subject to editorial oversight commensurate with our editorial standards and rigorous review by a human editor.
Approved Uses of AI/GAI
- Transcription of audio and video, with quotes and details
- Initial review of content with basic grammar and spell-checking
- Translation during reporting and research
- Audio rendering of written articles for accessibility purposes
- Suggesting headlines and subheads
- AI-generated charts and other graphic elements
- Basic photo editing
- Data research and analyses
- SEO optimization, keyword generation and summaries for posts on social networks
Prohibited Uses of AI/GAI
- Generating a news article, commentary, perspective, op-ed, editorial, profile, or Q&A (written or visual) through GAI. We plan to deploy Pangram, a verification tool, to detect undisclosed and inappropriate use of AI-generated content.
- Inventing fake sources and making up quotes or generating false backgrounds using AI tools
- Replicating human voices or likenesses
- Generating images that replicate real specific places or locations
- Determining editorial direction: which stories are “newsworthy,” what angle a story should take
