Local reporting. Public records. Rhode Island accountability.
Ocean State Chronicle™ uses artificial-intelligence tools to expand the capacity of a small independent newsroom while preserving human editorial judgment, verification and accountability.
AI can support the work. It cannot inherit the responsibility.
Ocean State Chronicle™ uses artificial-intelligence tools to expand the capacity of a small independent newsroom. These tools may assist with organizing research, searching and summarizing public documents, transcribing interviews, comparing information, developing questions, checking structure, editing language, generating production options, creating clearly labeled illustrations, and supporting publishing or administrative work.
AI assistance does not relieve OSC or its journalists of responsibility for what is published. A human editor remains responsible for determining what is newsworthy, verifying material facts, evaluating sources, selecting language and images, making fairness and privacy decisions, correcting errors, and approving publication.
Select a newsroom function to see how artificial intelligence may support the work and where human responsibility remains.
OSC may use artificial-intelligence tools to organize research, search and summarize public documents, compare information, and help develop reporting questions.
The resulting output does not independently establish that any underlying factual claim is true. The newsroom remains responsible for reviewing the underlying record, evaluating sources, verifying material facts and deciding what is appropriate to publish.
AI output is not treated as a source, eyewitness, public record, quotation, or independent verification. Material factual claims must be supported by reporting, attributable sources, authentic documents, direct observation, verified data, or other appropriate evidence. OSC does not knowingly publish invented quotations, fabricated records, synthetic evidence, or unsupported allegations simply because an AI system produced them.
OSC distinguishes between routine production assistance and AI involvement that materially shapes what a reader encounters.
AI may assist with outlines, questions, summaries, headline options, structure, editing, or draft language. The named human author or editor must understand, review, verify, and approve the finished work. A human byline means that the named person accepts responsibility for the article and exercised meaningful editorial control over its final substance and expression.
OSC discloses AI involvement when it materially shaped the published prose, analysis, reconstruction, or presentation in a way a reasonable reader would consider relevant when evaluating authorship or credibility. Routine spelling, grammar, transcription, formatting, search, organizational, or non-substantive editing assistance does not ordinarily require an article-level disclosure.
AI can help a journalist produce restrained, consistently structured factual prose, but it does not guarantee neutrality or eliminate bias. Source selection, prompts, training material, omissions, framing, and editorial choices can influence an AI-assisted account. OSC therefore reviews AI-assisted reporting against the underlying record and remains responsible for fairness, context, attribution, and accuracy.
Authentic photography and video will not be materially altered in ways that change their factual meaning. AI-generated or materially altered visuals must be clearly identified when used as illustrations and must not be presented as documentary evidence. OSC will not fabricate a real person’s conduct, place someone at an event they did not attend, or alter a person’s likeness to imply an unsupported expression, condition, guilt, dishonesty, menace, or character judgment.
Routine processing—such as cropping, exposure correction, white-balance correction, resizing, compression, noise reduction, or sharpening—may be used when it does not create, remove, conceal, or materially change fact-bearing content.
When a visual is AI-generated or materially altered, OSC identifies it as an illustration rather than presenting it as documentary fact.
Responsibility remains with OSC and the named human author or editor. If AI-assisted work contributes to a material error or misleading presentation, OSC will address it under the same correction, clarification, update, or editor’s-note standards applied to any other newsroom error. The involvement of a tool is not an excuse and does not reduce accountability.
AI involvement does not create a different standard for corrections. Published errors remain OSC's responsibility.
Artificial-intelligence practices sit inside the same wider system of verification, accountability, privacy and reader-facing governance that applies across OSC.
Review the principles governing verification, sourcing, attribution, fairness and OSC editorial practices.
Read Standards → 02 · AccountabilityReview how OSC handles factual errors, clarifications, material updates and the public correction record.
Corrections & Clarifications → 03 · InformationLearn how OSC receives, uses, protects and retains information across the website and newsroom.
Read Privacy Policy → 04 · UseReview the terms governing access to and use of OSC reporting, website resources and digital services.
Read Terms →Questions or concerns about OSC’s use of AI may be sent to [email protected]. This policy may be updated as tools, newsroom practices, and public expectations develop. Material changes should be dated and preserved.
Ocean State Chronicle™
Local reporting. Public records. Rhode Island accountability.
This policy may be updated as tools, newsroom practices, and public expectations develop. Material changes should be dated and preserved.
Artificial intelligence may support the newsroom's work. Verification, fairness, judgment, transparency and responsibility remain human obligations.
Independent Rhode Island Journalism
Ocean State Chronicle™Independent reporting, public records and accountability journalism serving Rhode Island.
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