Who is responsible for this policy?
The editorial leadership of Politikpunkt, under Chefredaktör Martin Krüger, is responsible for this policy and its implementation. Ownership is held by Politikpunkt Media Ltd., a private company registered in Gibraltar (company number C 92009, Malta Business Registry), whose registered office is at Office 9, Business Centre, Valletta, 0000.
Martin Krüger (anders.lindqvist@politikpunkt.de, +46 8 525 030 61) has final authority over editorial standards, publication decisions and corrections. The policy is reviewed regularly by the full editorial team, including Redaktionschef Helena Peters and Ansvarig för faktagranskning Nina Wolff. Any change to our use of AI or automation is approved only after consultation with the managing editors and the company’s directors. For full details on the people behind our journalism, see Our Team; for our ownership and funding structure, see Ownership & Funding.
How do we use AI and automation in our newsroom?
We use AI-assisted tools to support research, drafting, editing, formatting, translation, metadata, headline options, summaries and transcription – but never to replace human editorial judgement. Every piece of content published on politikpunkt.de is reviewed, fact-checked and approved by a human editor before publication.
Our journalists and editors may employ digital tools to speed up routine tasks such as transcribing interviews or generating alternative headline suggestions. AI may also assist in preliminary fact-checking by flagging potential inconsistencies or verifying dates and figures. However, the core tasks of reporting, analysis, source evaluation and conclusion-drawing remain the exclusive responsibility of our named writers and editors. All AI-generated or AI-assisted drafts are clearly marked internally and must pass the same editorial scrutiny as any other content. For the standards that govern every article, see our Editorial Policy and Fact-Checking Policy.
What is strictly prohibited?
AI must never fabricate quotes, sources, interviews, bylines, author experience or expert profiles. No AI-generated content is published without human review and approval. Automated decision-making that affects editorial conclusions is forbidden.
Specifically, our newsroom prohibits the following: (a) using AI to generate entire articles without a named human writer taking full responsibility; (b) creating fake bylines or personas through AI; (c) generating attributions or testimonies that do not originate from real interviews or verifiable records; (d) employing AI to alter the meaning of a source’s statement without explicit human oversight; and (e) allowing any automated system to determine the framing, spin or political angle of a story. Any violation of these prohibitions is treated as a serious editorial breach and may lead to immediate correction, retraction and disciplinary action. Our Complaints Procedure describes how such issues are handled if raised by readers.
How do we disclose our use of AI?
We clearly label any sponsored or commercial material, and we disclose affiliate links. For content where AI tools have played a material role in research or drafting, we note this in the article’s metadata or in a short editorial note, while still crediting the human writer and editor. Transparency is a cornerstone of our trustworthiness.
When AI is used for translation, summaries or formatting, we do not consider this a material influence on editorial content and may not separately label it, but we remain fully accountable for the accuracy of the final version in every language. Any use of AI in generating headlines that could mislead readers is forbidden. Sponsored content, even if assisted by AI, is always clearly marked as such; see our Advertising & Affiliate Disclosure and Sponsored Content Policy. Readers with questions about a specific article’s use of AI are welcome to contact our editorial team via Contact.
Our commitments
- We will never publish AI-generated content without human editorial approval and a named writer taking responsibility.
- We will clearly disclose any use of AI in our editorial process when it materially affects the content.
- We will hold our AI tools to the same standards of accuracy, fairness and source verification as our human journalists.
- We will regularly review and update this policy as technology evolves, consulting both editorial staff and external experts.
- We will ensure that our use of AI does not compromise our independence, editorial integrity or the trust of our readers.