How Defrontera Uses A.I. in its journalism
As health challenges become more complex and information more overwhelming, explanatory journalism is essential: it unpacks complexity, provides context, and bridges research with lived experience. A.I. helps us do this more efficiently and accessibly—always with human judgement at the centre.
Defrontera’s mission is to produce independent, explanatory health journalism that connects evidence to policy and helps communities make sense of complex issues. Artificial intelligence (A.I.) is one of many tools we use to strengthen this mission. It never replaces our reporters. We do not use A.I. to write articles. Journalists remain responsible for the accuracy, fairness, and clarity of everything we publish.
OUR PRINCIPLES
A tool in service of explanatory journalism: A.I. supports Defrontera’s mission to clarify complex global health issues and help our audience (decision-makers, health workers, and citizens) to understand the “why” behind those health issues—without oversimplifying.
Human accountability accompanies A.I.: Reporters and editors verify all information and remain accountable for how stories are framed and explained.
Transparency and ethics: Defrontera discloses when A.I. has been used and applies safeguards against bias or distortion, in line with our editorial code.
DEFRONTERA USES A.I. FOR
- Analysing data: A.I. helps us spot patterns in large data sets (like maternal mortality records, county budgets, or disease outbreaks) so that reporters can interpret and contextualise them.
- Crafting formats: Producing first drafts of headlines or summaries, always refined by editors for clarity and accuracy.
- Guiding readers: Recommending related stories to help audiences understand links across issues.
- Creating explanatory visuals: Generating labelled illustrations to explain abstract concepts—never to depict real events.
- Monitoring misinformation: Detecting false or misleading health claims online for reporters to fact-check and explain.
DEFRONTERA DOES NOT USE A.I. FOR
- Writing articles or generating quotes from scratch.
- Altering real events in photos, videos, or audio.
- Creating deepfakes, synthetic voices, or impersonations of real people.
- Producing and publishing A.I.-generated visuals without clearly labelling them as A.I.-generated.
- Using A.I. to determine editorial priorities or news angles.
- Tracking individuals’ private or sensitive health data.
- Using A.I. for manipulative personalisation or targeted misinformation.
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