PDD Shop Talk: Artificial Intelligence Policy
Image depicting artificial intelligence, created using Canva AI Image Generator.
With the use of artificial intelligence becoming more pervasive on the internet, it’s time for Perfect Duluth Day to issue it’s short and simple policy regarding the branch of computer science that will surely have many marvelous and horrible affects on humanity.
So here’s the deal:
Perfect Duluth Day does not approve of using artificial intelligence tools to write stories. It’s as simple as that.
Of course, it must be noted that spelling and grammar-checking software — and online search engines used for research — often rely on technologies that mimic human intelligence. So elements of A.I. will tend to creep into the information-gathering and writing processes of any non-luddite.
Our goal is always accuracy and text that is pleasant to read. So if the writing technique is poor and/or the information is incorrect, PDD will reject the post regardless of whether a bot or a human created it.
For images, we always prefer unaltered photography and graphics created by human artists. On the rare occasions artificial intelligence is used to clean up a historical photo or perform other graphic tasks, our policy is to note it in the caption or adjacent text. Advertisements and promotional images submitted to our event calendar are exceptions to this policy. Although we recommend that advertisers and event organizers self-identify the use of A.I. when creating visual materials, we cannot spend time verifying the level of human vs. computerized effort put into those items. They are too voluminous for our editors to analyze. Ultimately, individual organizations must determine how to use images to promote their events.
If you see suspicious images or text on PDD, please let us know. We believe we have a solid policy and aim to enforce it vigilantly, but we also acknowledge that we are absolutely vulnerable to being duped.
And now for the usual oh-by-the-way money grovel …
Keeping Duluth’s Duluthiest website running with new content every day has been an ongoing financial challenge nearly 23 years, but Perfect Duluth Day is still here, still free to read and still kicking out the daily goods. Advertising revenue keeps the operation going, but donations help us do more and do it better.
So if you appreciate the thorough listings of hoopla on the PDD Calendar and/or the features on the PDD Blog, kindly drop a few bucks in the PayPal account. It is much appreciated.