DIY Music Guide

AI Policy

This is the policy on the use of generative AI in the editorial work for DIY Music Guide. It applies to all editorial work produced here.
The short version: DIY Music Guide is written by humans.
AI doesn’t write our stories, generate our images, or put words in anyone’s mouth. Where we do use AI tools in our workflows, we use them as we do any other tool: with standards, manual verification, and with humans making every editorial and creative decision.

If there are changes to this policy, they will be reflected here.

Our journalism is human-authored

DIY Music Guide’s editorial text is written by humans. We do not use AI to generate our reporting, analysis, or commentary.

When AI output is itself the subject of reporting (for example, examining what a model produces or analyzing a system’s behavior), we may reproduce that output for demonstration or analysis. In those cases, AI-generated material is presented as exemplar material and is set apart visually, with sources clearly noted.

AI-powered tools may be used to assist with editing and workflow in ways that don’t displace human authorship, including grammar checks, style suggestions, and structural feedback. These tools can recommend changes, but only humans can make them.

Research and source material

Vetted and approved AI tools may be used in our workflow to assist with research, including navigating large volumes of material, summarizing background documents, and searching datasets. When these tools are used, AI output is never treated as an authoritative source. Everything is verified, manually, by a human, before publication.

When we attribute a statement, a position, or a quote to a named source, that material comes from direct engagement with interviews, transcripts, published statements, or documents reviewed by the author. AI tools are not used to generate, extract, or summarize material that is then attributed to a named source, whether as a direct quote, a paraphrase, or a characterization of someone’s views.

We don’t publish claims based solely on AI-generated summaries, and any source material reviewed by an author must be examined directly by that author.

Every author who uses AI tools in the course of reporting a story must disclose that use, and authors remain fully responsible for their published content.

Images, audio, and video

AI tools may be used to help in the production of certain visual material (for example in standard production work like color correction, cropping, and contrast adjustments) only when the use of those tools is judged as additive to human-directed creative intent. The creative direction, creative decisions, and editorial judgments in the use of AI tools are always human-driven.

We do not knowingly publish AI-generated images, audio, or video as authentic documentation of real events. We do not alter documentary media in ways that change their meaning.

If synthetic media is used in the context of reporting on AI, it will be clearly identified as AI-generated, with that disclosure placed as close to the material as possible.

Accountability is non-negotiable

Anyone who uses AI tools in our editorial workflow is responsible for the accuracy and integrity of their resulting work. That responsibility cannot be transferred to colleagues, editors, or the tools themselves.

These standards have governed our editorial work before and since AI tooling became available. When violations occur, we take action.

Latest update: May 23, 2026