In January 2023, a piece of ChatGPT-generated copy landed in my inbox.

 

It wasn’t labeled as AI, but as an editor who’d worked with this author previously, it was clear to me that it wasn’t their own work. When asked, they admitted they’d used ChatGPT, but they felt it was fair game: our company didn’t have guidelines regarding the use of generative AI. While trust had been breached, no rule had been broken. The “author” wasn’t in the right, yet technically they weren’t in the wrong. So meetings were called, discussions were had, and the “author” was told not to do it again. 

 

(They did it again.)

 

Clearly, a change was in order. We needed guidelines and a plan to adapt to whatever might happen in the future. A template didn’t exist, so I started writing one and ended up helping to develop one of the first AI content policies in my organization’s industry. 

​

Now, I’m a full-time advocate for the ethical use of generative artificial intelligence. Disruptive as it may be, AI isn’t going away. That's true of any transformative new technology--the typewriter replaced the pencil, the word processor replaced the typewriter, and the computer replaced the word processor. 

 

Editors, writers, and publishers need to learn how generative AI works, how to use it responsibly, and how to make informed choices about whether or how we’ll use it in our own work.

 

I’m an editor. I’m a geek. And I care about ethics and accountability.