How LAist uses artificial intelligence

(Updated April 2026)

LAist is here to provide Los Angeles with quality news and information people can trust. As artificial intelligence tools become part of the fabric of newsrooms, we want to be transparent about how we use them, where we draw the lines, and who is responsible for what we publish.

These principles apply to LAist’s digital and audio journalism, newsletters and social media, built audience tools, and internal use of generative AI. It’s a living document. As technology changes and we learn from our own experiments, we will continue to update it.

our principles

1. Accountability
LAist’s journalists are responsible for everything we publish. When AI tools play a role in our work, they are reviewed by people at LAist, and we hold them accountable to the same editorial standards as the rest of our journalism.

2. Verification
Treat anything that the AI ​​tool generates as unverified. That’s because generative AI tools can make mistakes, fabricate details, or reflect biases from the data they were trained on. That’s why, as always, our use of AI in journalism is based on first-reported material and fact-checked through original reporting and trusted sources before publication.

3. Human voice and judgment
Our journalists make LAist what it is through their reporting, writing, editing and editorial judgment. AI does not replace the relationships that reporters, editors, and hosts build with reporters, editors, and hosts, or the communities they cover. We do not use AI to generate entire stories or to replicate the voice or likeness of journalists or people.

4. Transparency
When AI plays an important role in what we publish, we tell you. For example, research that uses AI to synthesize big data sets requires that its conclusions be authenticated through human review, while being transparent about its use. When building products that rely on AI, label them in context so you know what is AI and what is not.

5. Privacy and protection of sources, viewers, and members
LAist staff members do not input confidential sources, unpublished reports, or personal information about members or donors into public AI tools. We use approved and secure platforms for all work involving confidential information. When our viewers interact with AI-powered tools, we apply the same data protection standards that we apply to all of our products, including applicable privacy laws.

6. Service to Los Angeles
Public media exists to provide universal access. We will carefully consider, with human review and clear disclosure, when AI can serve more Angelenos through translation, accessibility features, and making reports easier to find and use. Our standard is not whether a tool saves time, but whether it truly helps our audience.

What the AI ​​doesn’t do with LAist

Some promises are basic. We do not:

• Publish the entire AI-generated story.
• Use AI to replicate the voice of an LAist journalist, host, or person.
• Mislead your audience by publishing AI-generated images that can be mistaken for original photographs or original visual reports. When an AI-generated image is the subject of a report, we clearly label it.
• Use AI to mislead viewers by creating art that represents real, identifiable people, places, or events in news coverage. When an AI-generated image is the subject of a report, we clearly label it.
• Publish AI-assisted works without review by LAist editors.
• Input sensitive source material and individual audience and donor information into public AI tools.

These efforts reflect our current standards and principles. As AI technology evolves, our specific practices may change, but our core commitment to human-driven journalism and transparency will remain the same.

How are we using AI today?

We take a deliberate and practical approach. Current uses fall into several categories.

• Internal newsroom support. We use approved tools to assist with tasks such as generating image alt text for accessibility, supporting editorial coaching, and assisting with research workflows. Anything produced with the help of AI is reviewed by journalists before it reaches an audience.
• translation. We are piloting AI-assisted translation in a limited way to make some reports available in languages ​​other than English. When using AI translation, we make sure to expose it in the content itself so readers know what they’re looking at, and keep in mind that there is a real responsibility in translating for the communities we serve.
• Tools for your audience. As we build interactive tools and features that use AI, such as products that help Angelenos navigate civic information, we label them in context, explain what the AI ​​does and doesn’t do, and base them on our own reporting whenever possible.
• Behind the scenes. Our product, marketing, fundraising, and operations teams may use AI tools to assist with tasks such as drafting internal communications, analyzing audience data, enhancing fundraising communications, and building software. The same standards of accuracy, privacy, and human review apply to all LAist departments.

oversight

LAist has an internal AI working group that reviews new AI tools and use cases before adoption, assesses accuracy and bias, and updates internal guidelines as the technology and our understanding of it evolve. These public principles reflect the values ​​by which the group operates.

Our Journalism and AI Training

LAist’s reporting is the result of a significant human effort and is protected by copyright. We reserve the right to decide whether and how third-party AI companies use our journalism to train their models, and we will evaluate those decisions in line with our mission and our obligations to the journalists who do this work.

Please tell us your opinion

We know that questions about AI in journalism remain unanswered, and audiences and people in newsrooms have different views. If you have feedback about these principles or how AI is reflected in our work, we’d love to hear from you. You can contact us here.

This document was last updated on April 24, 2026. It will be revised periodically.