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How we use AI

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HeadLines Decoded uses AI tools in a small number of places. This page says where, how we record it, and who is responsible for the result.

How each story says who did what

An editor chooses every story and decides whether it publishes. AI may tighten a sentence, flag a claim, or draft a passage. It does not choose the story, and it does not decide what is true. Each article says how the work was divided, so you do not have to guess.

Every story ends with one of three labels:

  • Editor written. The editor reported and wrote this. AI was used for spelling, grammar, and formatting only.
  • Editor directed. The editor chose the story and shaped it. AI helped with a draft, a restructure, or flagging claims to check. The editor reviewed the text, checked the sources, and approved what published.
  • AI drafted, editor approved. AI wrote the first draft from the editor's assignment. The editor revised it and approved it before publication.

The editor chooses the label for each story.

Where AI has helped

In the last twelve months we published 181 stories. By label:

  • Editor written: 180
  • Editor directed: 0
  • AI drafted, editor approved: 1

AI help was recorded on 1 of those stories, in these kinds of work:

  • Drafting help: 1 story

How we keep a record

Every use of AI through our own systems is recorded on the story automatically, with the tool and the date. When a reporter uses an AI tool outside our systems, they record it on the story. When an editor labels a story Editor directed, or AI drafted, editor approved, that is recorded too, as drafting help. The label at the end of each story says how the work was divided, and a story with other AI help recorded also carries a line about it.

Who checks it

A person reviews the AI help on a story and marks it reviewed. Only then does the line at the end of the story say that our journalists checked it. AI never publishes a story on its own, and a machine score of how "machine-written" a text reads is advice to an editor and never stops or approves a story. The label on each story is the editor's own statement of how the work was divided, and the editor who sets it answers for it.

Questions and corrections

If you think aomething wrong in one of our stories, write to [email protected] and we will look at it and correct it.