For the first time in history, there\u2019s no friction between having an idea and putting it into writing. Thanks to generative AI, telling stories and sharing them with the world has never been easier.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This ease brings with it some downsides. And when it comes to potential detrimental effects, \u201cworkslop<\/a>\u201d has nothing on \u201cnews slop.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Professional storytellers \u2014 journalists, creators and other information providers \u2014 are trusted messengers. If the work we put out regularly includes hallucinations<\/a>, misinterpretations<\/a> or lack of contextual understanding<\/a>, our communities suffer<\/a>. Shared reality overlap degrades<\/a>, connections become suspect<\/a> and human progress slows.<\/p>\n Still, at Technical.ly we believe generative AI technology offers plenty of upsides for local news. <\/p>\n We can\u2019t risk ignoring AI, and shouldn\u2019t just leave it to others to wield. <\/p>\n In a resource-strained industry, it can help increase access to key info, uncover pernicious patterns and enable wider and deeper coverage.\u00a0So we can\u2019t risk ignoring it, and shouldn\u2019t just leave it to others to wield. <\/p>\n What that means is we need guidelines for its use. Two years ago, Technical.ly proposed to the Lenfest Institute of Journalism<\/a> to create such a guide. They agreed, and offered support as part of a generous local news sustainability grant<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, it\u2019s not easy to make a guide to using generative AI when generative AI keeps evolving so fast.\u00a0<\/p>\n After more than 18 months of intense internal experimentation, gathering external feedback, following other news organizations\u2019 successes and challenges, reading all the other artificial intelligence use guides published in the meantime (by media<\/a> companies<\/a>, journalism<\/a> support<\/a> orgs<\/a>, universities<\/a>, AI companies<\/a> and pretty much everyone else<\/a>) we came to a realization:<\/p>\n No matter how the generators change, how much the models improve, what tools are put out, what overall progress is made with this transformative tech, a set of core principles will remain.\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019re calling these principles \u201cElements of AI for Ethical Storytelling.\u201d Keep scrolling to read them. Download a PDF here<\/a> and graphics for social sharing here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019ll be discussing all this in person at Klein News Innovation Camp<\/a>, the 16th edition of which happens Saturday, Nov. 8, at Temple University. <\/p>\n