AI and Synthetic Media Policy

Principle

DesiAI may use artificial intelligence and automated technologies to support specific editorial and operational activities. These systems do not replace accountable human authorship, source verification, editorial judgment or responsibility for published material. An artificial intelligence system is not treated as an author, reporter, witness, confidential source, expert, legal authority, scientific evidence, factual database or final editorial decision-maker.

Every article published by DesiAI remains attributable to a real, accountable person or an appropriate institutional editorial function. Human authors and editors remain responsible for factual accuracy, quotations, attribution, citations, source reliability, conflicts of interest, legal status, privacy, copyright, safety, image authenticity, article classification, disclosures, corrections and the final decision to publish.

Scope

This policy applies to generative text systems, automated research tools, search assistance, transcription, translation, summarization, data extraction, classification, coding assistance, image generation, image editing, synthetic audio, cloned voices, generated video, recommendation systems, automated moderation, analytics, synthetic personas and AI-detection tools.

It applies to authors, editors, contributors, contractors, commercial content producers and anyone using automated systems in material published under the DesiAI name.

Permitted Assistance

AI tools may assist with brainstorming, preliminary topic research, transcription, translation support, language editing, formatting, structured data extraction, document organization, coding assistance, calculations, data cleaning, accessibility, headline comparison, tagging and internal workflow.

Such use is permitted only where the author or editor can meaningfully assess the output and where the process does not breach confidentiality, privacy, intellectual-property rights, security requirements or applicable law.

Permission to use an AI tool does not remove the obligation to verify information or disclose its use when that use materially affects how a reader should assess the work.

Prohibited Uses

DesiAI does not use AI to fabricate sources, invent quotations, create fictional authors, manufacture credentials, generate false eyewitness accounts, create evidence, fill reporting gaps with plausible but unverified details, invent legal cases or statutes, fabricate academic references or deceptively imitate a real person.

AI is also not used to create undisclosed propaganda, disguise Sponsored Content, generate non-consensual intimate material, produce defamatory synthetic media, automate unsupported accusations, publish large volumes of near-identical pages, impersonate DesiAI personnel, replace required source verification, make final high-risk editorial decisions or conceal the identity of a commercial commissioning party.

Fluent language, confident presentation or polished grammar does not establish that AI-generated information is true.

AI Output Is Not Evidence

Factual claims produced by an AI system must be checked against reliable, non-AI evidence. This includes names, biographies, dates, positions, institutions, quotations, legal references, scientific research, statistics, calculations, historical events, technical explanations, company statements, product capabilities and current roles.

AI-generated citations should be opened and independently examined. Automated summaries should be compared with the original material, while extracted information should be checked against the underlying source document.

AI-generated lists of sources are treated as research leads rather than verified citations. DesiAI does not rely on information that cannot be traced to accessible and credible evidence.

Material Disclosure

AI use should be disclosed when it could reasonably affect a reader’s understanding of authorship, originality, accuracy, methodology, evidence, translation, provenance, authenticity, visual representation or data analysis.

Material uses that may require disclosure include substantial AI-generated draft text, automated translation central to a disputed quotation, AI-generated or materially altered images, synthetic audio or video, cloned voices, automated analysis central to findings, AI-generated code used in a significant technical test, reconstruction of an event, AI-created visualization affecting interpretation or a virtual interview persona.

Routine spellchecking, punctuation suggestions, formatting, word counting, file conversion, ordinary search functionality, accessibility formatting, basic transcription that has been checked against the recording and minor coding assistance that is not central to the findings do not normally require article-level disclosure. Human accountability remains unchanged.

Disclosure Language

A disclosure should explain what the AI system was used for and what human verification was performed. It may state that an automated tool assisted with a defined task and that a human author and editor reviewed claims, quotations, sources and the final presentation.

Synthetic visual material should be identified as generated or materially altered and described as illustration rather than documentary evidence where appropriate. Automated analysis disclosures should identify the method, validation process and relevant limitations.

Simply naming an AI tool is not sufficient disclosure because readers need to understand the role the technology played in producing the published material.

Authorship and Identity

AI systems are not credited as authors. A byline identifies a real person or legitimate editorial function capable of answering factual questions, explaining the reporting method, disclosing relevant conflicts, cooperating with corrections, accepting responsibility and explaining the publication decision.

DesiAI does not create synthetic journalists, fictional experts or fabricated contributor profiles. A protected pseudonym may be used for a real person facing a documented safety risk, but it should not be confused with a fictitious identity.

AI-Assisted Research and Drafting

AI may assist in identifying questions, terminology or potential sources, but the author must independently establish that a source exists, actually supports the claim, is sufficiently current and authoritative for the relevant jurisdiction, contains the quoted material and has not been selectively used to hide significant contrary evidence.

AI-assisted drafts remain subject to human editorial control. Authors and editors should check for fabricated information, generic or repetitive wording, false certainty, copied material, hidden bias, inaccurate comparisons, unsupported superlatives, invented chronology, conflicting figures, false quotations, jurisdictional mistakes, unnatural attribution, missing disclosures, promotional framing and pages created primarily for search traffic rather than reader value.

A draft based heavily on company or PR material may reproduce that organization’s perspective and should not be presented as independent analysis without substantial reporting and editorial review.

Translation and Transcription

Automated translation may assist with understanding, but material translations should be reviewed by someone competent in the relevant language or through another proportionate verification process.

Additional review should be considered for legal terminology, medical language, political speeches, disputed quotations, culturally specific expressions, names, official titles and safety-sensitive instructions. Translation should not introduce greater certainty than exists in the original material or remove relevant qualifications.

Automated transcription should be checked against the original audio when a quotation is central, disputed, technically complex, legally significant, difficult to hear or likely to cause reputational harm. An automated transcript is not assumed to be a perfect record.

Data Analysis and Coding

AI may assist with data extraction, classification, pattern identification and software development. The methodology should record relevant input data, exclusions, labels, significant prompts or instructions, software or model where material, validation samples, error rates, manual review, assumptions, reproducibility, known biases, version, date and limitations.

Automated classifications should not be presented as objective truth merely because an algorithm or model generated a score.

AI-generated code may contain security vulnerabilities, logical mistakes, outdated approaches, false dependencies, privacy risks, licensing problems or hidden assumptions. Code that is central to an article should be reviewed and tested by a suitably competent person. A technical finding should not be published simply because generated code produced the expected output.

Synthetic Images

Synthetic editorial images should be labeled when a reasonable reader could mistake them for authentic documentary material.

DesiAI does not publish misleading synthetic depictions of a real person appearing to commit wrongdoing, make a statement, attend an event, endorse a product, suffer an injury, engage in sexual conduct, participate in political activity or appear at a location where the person was not actually present.

Illustrative synthetic images may be used for conceptual subjects where the image, caption and surrounding page context make their illustrative nature clear. Where practicable, the disclosure should remain meaningful when the image is shared separately from the original article.

Synthetic Audio, Voice and Video

Synthetic or cloned voices carry significant impersonation risks and should not be used to suggest that a real person personally recorded, approved or said words that they did not.

Using a real person’s cloned voice requires a lawful, ethical and clearly disclosed basis. Generated or materially altered video must not be presented as authentic footage.

Disclosures should explain what was generated or changed, whether a real person is depicted, whether the material is a reconstruction, what evidence supports the underlying account and why the treatment was considered justified.

A reconstruction should be based on identified evidence such as verified chronology, documents, photographs, location information, witness accounts, maps or measurements. Uncertain details must not be presented as established facts, and a reconstruction must never be described as original footage.

Detection and Reporting on AI

AI-generated-media detection tools can assist evaluation but are not infallible. DesiAI distinguishes between confirmed synthetic material, verified manipulation, expert assessment, automated detection results, platform labels, unresolved suspicion and ordinary editing.

A person should not be accused of publishing a deepfake solely because an automated detector produces a particular score.

Reporting about AI systems should distinguish demonstrations from deployed performance, benchmarks from real-world behavior, company claims from independent testing, model output from verified results, automation from human assistance, generation from understanding, laboratory findings from commercial availability and planned features from functioning products.

Terms such as intelligent, autonomous, reasoning, conscious, unbiased, secure and human-level should not be adopted uncritically when reporting on AI systems.

Confidentiality and Personal Data

Confidential, personal, legally privileged, embargoed, unpublished or security-sensitive information should not be entered into a third-party AI system without authorization and an assessment of provider retention, training use, contractual terms, access controls, international transfers, deletion practices, source protection and necessity.

Consumer AI tools should not automatically be treated as appropriate confidential workspaces.

AI processing involving personal information should be limited to what is necessary and lawful. Additional care applies to children, biometric information, facial recognition, inferred characteristics, profiling, re-identification and automated decisions.

An AI-generated inference about an individual should not be presented as a verified personal fact without reliable evidence and a defensible public-interest basis.

Copyright and Commercial Content

AI-assisted content can create copyright, licensing, personality-rights and attribution concerns. Authors should verify that source material can lawfully be used, generated output does not improperly reproduce protected material, tool terms are compatible with publication requirements, a person’s likeness is not misused and necessary credits or licenses are recorded.

Commercial content using AI remains subject to the same standards. Sponsors may not use AI to create fake testimonials, fictional experts, fabricated product tests, synthetic customer reviews, undisclosed virtual endorsers, false before-and-after imagery, manipulated evidence or deceptive political communication.

Automated Moderation and Recommendations

If DesiAI introduces comments, user accounts or personalized recommendations, automated systems remain subject to appropriate human oversight.

Consequential decisions such as account restrictions, removal of lawful criticism, harassment determinations, impersonation findings, political-content limitations or appeal outcomes should not depend solely on automated classification. Where appropriate, users should receive meaningful explanation and access to human review.

Corrections and Contributor Declaration

AI-related errors are handled under the Corrections and Updates Policy. A correction may be required for a fabricated citation, mistranslated quotation, misidentified person, inadequately labeled image, inaccurate automated analysis, synthetic material presented as authentic, AI-generated false claim or missing AI disclosure.

Serious failures may require retraction and a public explanation.

Contributors should declare material AI use before publication, including the type of tool, purpose, material generated, verification performed, confidential information entered, synthetic media created, rights reviewed and known limitations.

Deliberate concealment of material AI use or AI-related misconduct may result in rejection, correction, retraction or termination of the contributor relationship.

Contact

Questions concerning the use of AI in published material may be sent to editorial@deshiai.in. Concerns about undisclosed synthetic media or AI-related factual errors may be sent to corrections@deshiai.in. Formal complaints may be sent to complaints@deshiai.in.