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AI-generated news is not publishable under AP guidelines as newsrooms introduce rules for using the new tech

  • The Associated Press, Wired and others are encouraging reporters and editors to use AI, but it cannot be used to create publishable content
  • The AP Stylebook is introducing a new chapter this week advising journalists how to cover AI

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The Associated Press logo seen at the entrance to the news organisation’s office in New York on July 13, 2023. Photo: AP

The Associated Press has issued guidelines on artificial intelligence, saying the tool cannot be used to create publishable content and images for the news service while encouraging staff members to become familiar with the technology.

AP is one of a handful of news organizations that have begun to set rules on how to integrate fast-developing tech tools like ChatGPT into their work. The service will couple this on Thursday with a chapter in its influential Stylebook that advises journalists how to cover the story, complete with a glossary of terminology.

“Our goal is to give people a good way to understand how we can do a little experimentation but also be safe,” said Amanda Barrett, vice-president of news standards and inclusion at AP.

The journalism think tank Poynter Institute, saying it was a “transformational moment”, urged news organizations this spring to create standards for AI’s use, and share the policies with readers and viewers.

Generative AI has the ability to create text, images, audio and video on command, but isn’t yet fully capable of distinguishing between fact and fiction

As a result, AP said material produced by artificial intelligence should be vetted carefully, just like material from any other news source. Similarly, AP said a photo, video or audio segment generated by AI should not be used, unless the altered material is itself the subject of a story.

That’s in line with the tech magazine Wired, which said it does not publish stories generated by AI, “except when the fact that it’s AI-generated is the point of the whole story”.

“Your stories must be completely written by you,” Nicholas Carlson, Insider editor-in-chief, wrote in a note to employees that was shared with readers. “You are responsible for the accuracy, fairness, originality and quality of every word in your stories.”

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