In the four corners of the world, it seems as though the word ‘AI’ — short for generative Artificial Intelligence programs — is everywhere. There are several programs that are widely available and very complex.
The complexity and availability of these programs is why folks are so obsessed with it. The federal government is shifting jobs to AI. There are AI-generated newspapers in Quebec. With the lack of health care providers, plenty of people are turning to AI for diagnosis’ and even mental health therapy.
The Pontiac Journal adheres to the Journalism Code of Ethics, as published by the Quebec Press Council. This means that readers, advertisers, and community organizers can count on the Journal to be a responsible, trustworthy and reliable voice in the Pontiac. “What you see is what you get” fits the Pontiac Journal’s publishing philosophy perfectly. Along with this ethical foundation of publishing is the use of Artificial Intelligence.
Each journalist has signed an agreement with the editor, engaging in a commitment to operate within ethical guidelines. There is no Artificial Intelligence production of content in
the Pontiac Journal. Journalists write their own work and there’s a human creating the newspaper at every step of the way.
Some aspects of newspaper production are appropriate for generative AI help, and the Pontiac Journal team makes use of these aides. Asking AI to gather research results about salt use on roads is an example of how the newsroom uses AI. As is asking AI to create steps in a plan for helping tourism businesses promote themselves outside the closed social media bubbles used right now. Translating a letter to a potential advertiser is sometimes an AI task.
Each time AI is used, a human checks the work, though. The human factor is the key to success at each step. The concept of hallucinating artificial intelligence is widespread. Anyone who has used the common AI programs (Claude, Chat GPT, Gemini, Grok etc)
will have hilarious anecdotes of AI hallucinations. This happens most visually in arts – a gymnast spinning between parallel bars that show the feet coming through the floor or a dancer with five arms.
For a newsroom, these hallucinations equal radical loss of credibility. The impact of radon on human health demands absolute accuracy. How many fish are permitted in a fish tank can only be reported as the correct maximum. Relying on AI to gather a variety of sources about these topics is useful. Just letting AI write up an article about them, well, that’s as credible as a flying fish on April 1.
