What are the ethical issues of AI in journalism? Many publishers are seeking guidance in response to this question. These 8 rules are our answer.
It is abundantly clear to everybody working in content strategy and innovation, that Generative AI will be transformative, as evidenced by The JournalismAI Report, which conducted the largest study on this subject.
Journalism, marketing, it will all undergo considerable changes in the next few years - and new use cases, goals and hurdles are popping up every week. That creates a lot of very interesting opportunities. But there are also a lot of critics worried about the negative effects of this technology. They ask the question: are we as AI developers mindful enough of the dangers that AI can pose?
Rapid transformation - especially if there are risks involved - requires guidance and a vision that goes beyond daily tasks. It needs a moral system that ensures that the complicated tech remains a force for good. Employees want that, clients and audiences demand it, and the future needs it.
Smartocto never walks away from responsibilities like these and has therefore formulated an eight point Ethics Framework that helps guide the smartocto decisions surrounding AI. As the technology progresses this will be our reference point, but the unbelievable speed in AI improvements will no doubt force all of us to keep a close look on how these guidelines are stated. The framework needs to be a dynamic set of rules, a live document that hangs on the wall and is communicated to the ones we work with. Consider this our New Year’s resolutions for 2024, let us know if you have any feedback or ideas!
Smartocto 8 rule Ethics framework for AI
Smartocto, being at the forefront in AI for journalism, a supplier of machine learning and LLM technology as well as a thought leader in the media space, needs to be aware of the responsibilities that go along with that. Generative AI is a very new technology and has the potential to radically change media and journalism. Therefore smartocto will act according to a clear ethical framework, consisting of 8 clear points:
- smartocto sees and uses AI as a force for good and actively supports measures that minimise the negative effects of AI on individuals and society.
- smartocto will strive to work with AI vendors and partners that have a clear ethics framework around AI use in place.
- smartocto will actively propagate for clients - media and marketing organisations - to work according to clear AI ethics rules, and to make them explicit to their employees and audiences.
- smartocto will advocate - especially with respect to journalistic newsrooms - oversight, meaning that AI projects are monitored and AI output always needs to be manually checked by an editor before published.
- smartocto prefers the data set and output that is the least discriminatory based on language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
- smartocto in developing AI features, will respect copyright and privacy.
- smartocto will strive for the least harmful AI output for individuals and society, and is the most accurate.
- smartocto will strive for and actively support research, training and awareness on the possibilities - positive and negative - of AI.
