CapRadio exists to serve our community. That responsibility requires trust, transparency and human accountability. As new generative AI tools become more common, we are taking a careful, human-centered approach to how they may be used in our work.
AI tools may help staff brainstorm, organize information, improve workflows or support internal planning. But they do not replace the judgment, creativity, reporting, editing or accountability of CapRadio staff.
Our commitment is simple: people remain responsible for the work we share with our audiences.
We will regularly review and update our policy to ensure that our approach to AI technologies remains rooted in our values and communicated to our audiences.
Our Guiding Principles
People come first
We will use AI only in ways that support and enhance human work. These tools should help staff do their work more effectively, not replace the people, judgment or creativity behind it.
Humans are accountable
A CapRadio staff member is always responsible for final work. AI tools cannot approve, publish or make editorial, creative, financial or organizational decisions on behalf of CapRadio.
Trust must be protected
We will use AI carefully and transparently, with the goal of protecting audience trust, brand integrity and CapRadio’s public service mission.
Privacy matters
We will not enter confidential, sensitive, member, listener, employee or partner information into public AI tools. Any use of AI must adhere to our strict privacy and data security policies and respect the trust people place in CapRadio.'
AI Requires Journalistic Oversight
CapRadio will not use AI to replace our journalists, who do essential, original and intensive work gathering and reporting news.
- Our newsroom will not use AI as a substitute for reporting or fact-checking.
- We will not present AI-generated material as original reporting or publish AI-generated stories or scripts.
- We will not publish text generated by AI tools unless it has gone through a rigorous verification and editing process. And our journalists will not use information from generative tools as a primary source of information.
- Journalists will disclose to their editors if they used tools such as Gemini in the reporting process. They will be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of generative AI tools, including how AI introduces uncertainty about where information comes from.
- CapRadio journalists may experiment with AI tools for tasks such as data analysis and transcription, but they must be critical of the tools. They will treat AI-generated output as unverified information and work to independently verify it.
- When AI tools play a role in developing key findings in a story, such as through a data analysis, we will clearly disclose how the tools were used.
Humans are responsible for all published and broadcast journalism. If AI is used in our journalism in any way, we will disclose that use.
We Will Not Use AI to Generate Images for News Stories
We do not alter any elements of photos, video or audio. This means we do not publish news photographs created by or manipulated by generative AI. In cases where AI-generated images are the newsworthy subject of a story, we will clearly label them as such.
What Else We Will Not Use AI To Do
CapRadio will not use generative AI to replace original reporting, human-hosted music programming, editorial judgment or creative decision-making.
We will not use AI to:
- Generate host breaks or AI voices for music programming.
- Make decisions about donors, listeners, partners, employees or communities.
- Share AI-generated material without human review and accountability.
- Replace artists and creative illustrations, logos, campaign artwork, photography substitutes, music or other original creative assets.
AI Tools May Be Used for Business Production
- CapRadio staff on the marketing, communications, product, revenue, operations and other non-editorial teams are encouraged to experiment with AI tools for tasks such as copywriting assistance, automation of workflows and business efficiency.
- Before utilizing a new AI tool, individuals should openly discuss and disclose their usage with their manager. And everyone should have a close eye on the security and accuracy of information. No public facing AI content may be distributed without human approval.
Our Ongoing Commitment
Generative AI is evolving quickly, and our approach will continue to evolve. As it does, CapRadio will continue to prioritize transparency, accountability and the human judgment our audiences expect from us.
Our responsibility is to use these tools carefully, protect the trust of our listeners, members and partners and ensure that CapRadio’s work remains rooted in people, community and public service.
