Some publishers see generative AI as a fundamental challenge to their business. Some would say it’s an “existential threat” but that phrase is overused and annoying.

Generative AI is certainly disruptive, but it also presents a lot of new opportunities.

As I say in my most recent letter, I believe the larger threat is from AI-curated content.

No matter where you stand on this, you should have a written policy for the use of AI in your organization.

That policy should cover general principles like …

Transparency – when and to what extent do you have to disclose that you’ve used AI?

Accountability – to what extent is a human responsible for the final product.

Data privacy and compliance – make sure you’re not feeding AI with information it shouldn’t oughta have.

Your policy should also cover how AI can be used. For example …

As an assistant in research and analysis.
To check grammar and spelling.
To create or edit first drafts.
To create or enhance images (with some limitations below).
To create a transcript of audio or video content.

In all these cases you should give some guidelines on where AI work ends and a human’s review begins.

You should list prohibited activities, like …

Fully automated content generation. Personally I think fully automated content is fine in certain cases – such as creating summaries of an article – so long as that’s clearly explained.
Using AI images to depict real people or events.
Using AI to make value judgments on sensitive issues.

The policy should say whether all content must be reviewed by a human author. That’s particularly important with fact-checking.

You might also require a certain level of training before employees are allowed to use AI.

I’ve drafted an AI policy for The Krehbiel Group which you can use as a starting point. You can find it here.

https://krehbielgroup.com/the-krehbielgroup-ai-policy/

279: Things to consider in your AI policy