Use of AI  ⌇ My commitment to disclose AI use

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There is plenty of evangelising and FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) when it comes to AI. The issues related to it are complex. As these technologies proliferate so to do expectations and anxieties. Opportunities abound, but so does the potential for harm. With that in mind, I want to be transparent about how I engage with AI.

AI-generated outputs are included on this website. I commit to disclosing any AI-generated content that is included. This page provides more information on how I intend to do that in different contexts.

AI-generated audiovisual content

Audiovisual AI-generated content (visual graphics, audio or video) is typically identified in the caption below where the material is displayed. Typically I will provide a short description of the content followed by details related to how it was generated enclosed within braces – the fore-facing brace (U+007B {) and the back-facing brace (U+007D }). For captions, this is typically disclosure of the short form of the name of the AI system used to generate the audiovisual content (e.g. Chat-GPT, Gemini, etc).

Further information about the AI-generated audiovisual material will also be listed in the Credits and Disclosure sections of the web page. The Credits section will typically provide:

  • more complete details of the AI system used to generate the audiovisual material, such as the version of the AI system used, and
  • whether the AI audiovisual material has been included ‘as is’ or whether I made any changes to it.

The Disclosure section will typically include a Use of AI subsection which discloses:

  • the prompt or prompts used to generate the audiovisual material, and
  • if the audiovisual material has been altered by me, a description of what alterations have occurred.

AI-generated text

Often I will use AI to explore ideas I am thinking about. Sometimes I use it to create a first draft of written content. It is very rare for me to use AI-generated text ‘as is’; partly because I am loathed to give up my agency and voice in what I write about on this website, but also because AI is not often right. It can literally be factually incorrect, but it also often have the wrong ‘vibe’, and requires rewriting. That said:

How I will disclose text that was generated by AI will depend on the context.


Verbatim AI-generated text

If sections of AI-generated text are used verbatim with little or no changes made by me I will disclose that enclosed within braces in-text after the AI-generated text or below the AI-generated text in question. In these cases it is typically disclosure of the short form of the name of the AI system used to generate the audiovisual content (e.g. Chat-GPT, Gemini, etc).

As a general rule, I take the use of five or more consecutive words . When counting words, I generally exclude:

For clarify, I generally include in the word count adjectives, nouns, pronouns, titles before a person’s name and verbs. Also, I generally include any article, conjunction, preposition or infinitive that is important in the text.

Further information about the verbatim AI-generated text will also be listed in the Disclosure section of the web page. The Disclosure section will typically include a Use of AI subsection which discloses:

  • more complete details of the AI system used to generate the text, such as the version of the AI system used
  • whether the AI text has been included ‘as is’ or whether I made any changes to it
  • the prompt or prompts used to generate the material, and
  • if the material has been altered by me, a description of what alterations have occurred.

Derivatives of AI-generated text

Where AI-generated text was used to generate ideas or to produce an initial draft of sections of text on this website this will not be disclosed in-text. Details of text derived from AI-generated text will be provided in the Disclosure section of the web page. The Disclosure section will typically include a Use of AI subsection which discloses:

  • more complete details of the AI system used to generate the text, such as the version of the AI system used
  • whether the AI text has been included ‘as is’ or whether I made any changes to it
  • the prompt or prompts used to generate the material, and
  • a description of how the AI-generated text was used e.g. as inspiration, to generate ideas, to provide an outline or structure, to summarise information, etc.

Copyright matters are one of the biggest areas of issues raised by AI. What material was used to train an AI system, where it was sourced, how it was gathered and whether permission was legally required can be tricky questions to answer. Equally tricky is the copyright status of AI-generated material. Whether AI outputs are protected by copyright remains contested.

I have included information about how I view the copyright status of any AI-generated content instigated by me included on this website elsewhere if that is of interest.