Policy for the Use of AI in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism

Preamble

Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool for many purposes in journalistic and academic contexts. In journalism, it can assist in brainstorming and finding story ideas, gathering, transcribing and summarizing information and interviews, drafting stories and outlines, processing and analyzing data, factchecking and copyediting, and creating visual aids and animations. AI can assist in crafting news and strategic messages and support client and audience interaction.

In academic contexts, AI can be used to support teaching and learning processes and to train students on AI tools for their careers. In research and creative activity, AI may assist in finding ideas and topics, overcoming creative blockades, exploring literature, generating and drafting outlines and creative concepts, gathering, processing, and visualizing data, outlining and drafting research reports, as well as creating images and remixing different styles and contents.

The faculty of E.W. Scripps School of Journalism recognizes AI as a helpful tool in most stages of journalistic work, as well as in teaching and learning, academic research, and creative activity. We recognize that AI use raises ethical and regulatory questions that are yet to be answered. We recommend a cautious and measured approach to AI use in journalistic and academic work. As we integrate AI into teaching, learning, research, and creative activity, we need ethical guidelines that govern its use. The faculty of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism adopts the following principles for the use of AI:

Basic Values

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  The use of AI in journalistic contexts (including news and information, PR, advertising and marketing) must always be guided by and conform to basic journalistic values and standards of good practice, as expressed in the respective professional codes of ethics.

• Instructors and students are encouraged to get acquainted and experiment with AI tools.
• Instructors may incorporate in course assignments, as appropriate, AI training and the use of AI, as well as conceptual and critical approaches to AI, including the ethical, cognitive, social, cultural, and environmental impacts of AI.
• We emphasize the imperative of complying with professional and academic standards of law and ethics, including academic integrity, as outlined in course syllabi and the requirements of the university. Instructors shall state in their syllabi the extent to which AI may be used and how AI-generated content is to be identified.
• Students and faculty are encouraged to use AI for academic research and creative activity as appropriate. AI use shall be guided by values of research and creative work, as well as academic integrity. Faculty doing research or creative work as part of their tenure and promotion portfolio should consult the Promotion and Tenure Document for details.

Meaningful Human Control

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  To ensure editorial integrity, all AI-generated or AI-modified content must be reviewed for accuracy and veracity by a human editor. Content must never be entirely created, written, edited, or published by AI. Final editorial decisions must be in human hands.

• Research or creative work with AI assistance shall adhere to the principle of meaningful human control and must never be entirely conducted and generated by AI. Exceptions exist only when AI-generated content is used for comparative or research purposes.

Accountability and Transparency

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  In AI-supported work, points of human intervention must be clearly identified, and human controllers must be assigned accordingly to avoid accountability gaps. The responsibility rests on the human user, not the AI.

• Faculty are expected to teach responsible uses of AI and address academic integrity regarding AI, including citation, plagiarism, forgery, and copyright. Students shall understand that they will be held accountable for content they create and submit. The responsibility for errors, fabrication, plagiarism, or copyright infringement falls upon the human user.
• The use of AI tools shall be clearly labeled. Internally, it is good practice that all steps of AI use in journalistic work are agreed upon, identified, and documented. Externally, audiences and clients must be informed when AI is used (including AI-generated pieces, use of chatbots, automated summaries, or image generation). Consistent, agreed-upon standards for how to attribute AI-generated content should be employed.
• Undeclared AI use constitutes deception and cheating and is subject to the respective sanctions.

Students must always and without being prompted declare if and how they have used AI in completing assignments. In research or creative activity, all steps where AI tools were used must be identified. A clear distinction must be made between AI generated work and original human-based research or creative work.

Integrity of Content

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  Human editors must check AI-generated content for accuracy and completeness, as well as for potential plagiarism, copyright violation, and AI-fabricated content, sources, quotes, or data. Human editors must also check for hallucination, stereotypes, and bias toward age, gender, race, class, status, ability, or worldview.

• AI may be used for content optimization to evaluate what content performs best for specific clients or target audiences, social media, and search engines (e.g. headline- and metadata-creation, strategic messaging, and audience research). Here, too, a human editor must ensure truthful, fact-based, and accurate content.
• Students are responsible for checking the textual and visual integrity of AI-generated material for assignments, including factual accuracy, bias, plagiarism, and fabrication. While AI may be used for illustrations, it must not be used to create or modify images and videos representing real events or people. Exceptions only exist if instructed otherwise, e.g. using AI-generated content for educational and comparative purposes.
• AI-assisted research must uphold the integrity of the research process, ranging from data gathering and literature reviewing, to processing and representing data, to interpreting and evaluating the findings. It must also uphold the integrity of research methods and the human subjects involved in that research, as defined by IRB standards.

Ethical and Legal Considerations

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  AI creations are often based on copyrighted materials and ethically or on legally problematic content or may contain sensitive data that could infringe upon individuals’ privacy and/or security. They must always be checked by a human editor for that. Because all AI-processed data may become AI training material, sensitive data may only be used in AI when informed consent has been obtained from the sources.

• Instructors shall address, where appropriate, legal and ethical questions of AI use in journalistic practice and academic work. Faculty offering training in methods, theories, and techniques of academic research shall expand on AI issues relevant for IRB approval, research ethics, and the integrity of the research process.
• AI-generated work “can be protected by copyright only where a human author has determined sufficient expressive elements” (U.S. Copyright Office). Therefore, it is important to clearly identify the aspects that are original human work.

Educational Considerations

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  It is important that both instructors and students learn how to integrate AI in a responsible way into their work, but they should also keep in mind that AI can neither replace critical thinking, nor provide the core skills of journalistic and academic work.

• Students should make reasonable choices when using AI for course assignments, as learning is not achieved through the quick production of AI content; rather it is the result of an active, often uncomfortable process, with effort driving cognitive growth.
• Though AI-generated material may appear to be creative, it is ultimately derivative, staying within the realm of the known. AI cannot think outside of the box. AI may discourage and devalue creative risk-taking and innovative thinking. AI should be used for routine and inspirational purposes and not replace creative and critical human work.

Environmental Considerations

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  Currently, AI use appears to be a cheap and readily available resource, but AI has a high environmental and energy impact. In short, it “demands a staggering amount of electricity” and of cooling water, all of which can create a strain on municipal and regional resources and disrupt local ecosystems (MIT News). AI should not be used carelessly or as a shortcut, but only when it yields actual, measurable benefits.

• Given AI’s impact on the environment and energy supplies, students, researchers and creative workers are encouraged to employ a reasonable, restrained use of AI. Not every project requires the assistance of AI, and human effort will often not only yield better outcomes but also contribute to the development of better skills and critical thinking.

Academic Freedom

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  While the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism encourages instructors to incorporate AI into their teaching, instructors are free to choose the level of AI integration into their courses. This may range from not allowing AI at all, to only discussing pros and cons of AI, to limiting its use to small tasks or encouraging students to experiment with AI, to offering broad use or in-depth training for specific journalistic and academic purposes. We encourage faculty not to use AI as the only means of grading assignments.

• We recognize that different course objectives, course materials, course topics, and different teaching styles necessitate different and flexible approaches to the use of AI. We also encourage instructors to include an AI policy in their syllabi that defines the level and limits of AI use in their courses.

Policy adopted by faculty on April 8, 2026.