How We Use Artificial Intelligence

Last updated: August 11, 2026

WantToKnow.info uses artificial intelligence as a tool to support some aspects of our work. We believe AI can be useful for research, technical work, and helping people explore information, but it should not replace human judgment, editorial responsibility, or careful verification of sources.

This page explains where we use AI, where we do not use it, and how we approach its limitations.

Where We Use AI

Research

Our team may use AI tools to assist with research. This can include helping us organize information, compare documents or sources, identify relevant material, explore questions, and better understand large collections of information. We also investigate AI directly with our open-source Seeds Of Truth project.

AI-assisted research does not replace source verification. When information is used in our published editorial or investigative work, our team is responsible for evaluating the underlying evidence and sources.

Proofreading and Editorial Assistance

We may use AI to help identify spelling, grammar, formatting, clarity, or consistency issues in material written by our team.

AI may suggest changes, but people make the final editorial decisions. Our published writing remains the responsibility of our editors and authors.

Software Development

We use AI as a software-development tool. This may include assistance with writing or reviewing code, debugging, documentation, testing, data processing, and exploring technical approaches.

AI-generated code is treated like code from any other source: it should be reviewed and tested before being used on our website or in our research systems.

AI-Generated Search Summaries

Some WantToKnow.info research and search tools may use AI to summarize or synthesize information returned by a search.

When a summary presented to a reader is generated by AI, we clearly identify it as AI-generated.

These summaries are intended to help readers navigate source material, not to replace it. AI-generated summaries can omit context, misunderstand a source, or make other mistakes. We encourage readers to examine the underlying sources, which we make available whenever practical.

Where We Do Not Use AI

We intentionally keep AI out of several important editorial functions.

We do not use AI to select or curate the news articles featured in our newsletters or news coverage. Those decisions are made by people.

We do not use AI to summarize the news and newsletter articles we publish or feature. Those summaries are researched and written by our team.

We do not use AI to write the text of our investigations or the scripts for our investigative videos. These are written by people responsible for the research and editorial judgments behind them.

AI may be used for proofreading such material after it has been written, but it does not replace the human authorship of the work.

Human Editorial Responsibility

Our use of AI is based on a simple principle: AI can assist the process, but people remain responsible for the result.

For our editorial and investigative work, people determine what subjects deserve attention, which sources are credible and relevant, what conclusions are justified by the evidence, and what ultimately gets published.

We do not treat an AI system as an authority or a source simply because it produces a confident answer.

AI Has Limitations

Current AI systems can make factual errors, misinterpret documents, overlook important context, reproduce biases in their training or source material, and occasionally generate information that is unsupported or incorrect.

For these reasons, we consider AI-generated material a starting point for further examination rather than evidence by itself.

This is particularly important to WantToKnow.info because much of our work involves controversial subjects, conflicting claims, historical records, government documents, investigative reporting, and questions where careful evaluation of primary sources matters.

Transparency

We believe readers should be able to distinguish between editorial material produced by our team and material generated by an AI system.

When AI directly generates a summary or other substantive content that is presented to users on WantToKnow.info, we intend to label that content clearly.

Routine behind-the-scenes uses of AI — such as proofreading, software debugging, or internal research assistance — may not be individually labeled because the AI-generated material itself is not being presented as published editorial content.

Our Approach May Evolve

AI technology is changing rapidly. We may change the tools we use or find additional appropriate uses for AI in the future.

If our use of AI changes in a way that materially affects how readers interact with WantToKnow.info or how our published content is produced, we will update this page to reflect those changes.

Questions about our use of AI may be sent to mark [at] wanttoknow [dot] info.