Ars Technica just published its newsroom AI policy, and the headline is simple: humans write everything. The policy, authored by Editor-in-Chief Ken Fisher, states that AI won't serve as author, illustrator, or videographer. Period. AI has demonstrated the ability to generate complex applications, such as fully functional VR video players. But the publication does allow reporters to use vetted AI tools for research tasks like summarizing documents and searching datasets, provided the output is never treated as authoritative and everything gets verified through direct engagement with sources.

That verification requirement is where things get complicated. Hacker News commenters immediately flagged the tension. If you're using an LLM to summarize background documents, you're trusting a system that, as one commenter put it, "very randomly latches on to certain keywords and constructs a narrative from them." Language models sound confident while being wrong, a reality Microsoft highlighted by declaring its Copilot 'for entertainment purposes only', and the person reviewing the summary may not catch what's been subtly distorted.

Ars says reporters must disclose AI tool use to editors and remain fully responsible for accuracy. That's the right standard on paper. Whether it holds in practice depends on how much time-pressed reporters actually verify versus rubber-stamp.

The policy lines up with what other outlets have landed on. Wired, The Verge, and the New York Times all prohibit AI from drafting copy while permitting supervised use for ancillary tasks. CNET tried something looser in 2022, pumping out AI-generated financial explainers until factual errors forced a pause. BuzzFeed has moved more aggressively into AI-powered quizzes and interactive content.

Ars is in the cautious camp. Publishing the policy publicly matters. Readers deserve to know the rules.

The real test comes when AI tools get better and newsroom budgets get tighter. Fisher says the policy will be updated if practices change, with changes noted publicly. That's the right promise. The question is whether economic pressure will make these boundaries look like luxuries.