AI and Synthetic Media Policy

Principle

Cyber Insight EU may use artificial intelligence and automated systems to assist defined editorial and operational tasks. These systems do not replace accountable human authorship, source verification, editorial judgment or responsibility for publication. 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 published article remains attributable to a real accountable person or a legitimate institutional editorial function. A human author and editor remain responsible for factual accuracy, quotations, attribution, citations, source reliability, conflicts, legal status, privacy, copyright, safety, image authenticity, article classification, disclosure, corrections and final publication.

Scope

This policy applies to generative text systems, automated research support, search assistance, transcription, translation, summarization, data extraction, classification, coding assistance, image generation, image editing, synthetic audio, cloned voices, generated video, recommender systems, automated moderation, analytics, synthetic personas and detection tools. It applies to authors, editors, contributors, contractors, commercial content producers and anyone using automated systems for work published under the Cyber Insight EU name.

Permitted Assistance

AI may assist brainstorming, preliminary topic mapping, transcription, translation support, language editing, formatting, structured extraction, document organization, coding assistance, calculation support, data cleaning, accessibility, headline comparison, tagging and internal workflow. Use is permitted only where the author or editor can evaluate the output and where the use does not violate confidentiality, privacy, rights, security or law.

Permission to use a tool does not remove the need for verification or disclosure when the use materially affects a reader’s assessment.

Prohibited Uses

Cyber Insight EU does not use AI to fabricate a source, invent a quotation, create a fictitious author, invent credentials, generate false eyewitness testimony, create evidence, fill reporting gaps with plausible detail, invent legal cases or statutes, fabricate academic citations or imitate a person deceptively. It also does not use AI to create undisclosed propaganda, disguise Sponsored Content, produce non-consensual intimate content, create defamatory synthetic media, generate automated accusations, publish large volumes of near-duplicate pages, impersonate a newsroom employee, replace required source verification, make final high-risk publication decisions or conceal the identity of a commercial commissioning party.

Fluency, confidence and grammatical quality are not evidence of truth.

AI Output Is Not Evidence

Every AI-generated factual claim is checked against reliable non-AI evidence. This includes names, biographies, dates, titles, institutions, quotations, legal references, scientific studies, statistics, calculations, historical events, technical explanations, company claims, product features and current roles. An AI-generated citation is opened and examined. An automated summary is compared with the original material, and an extraction is checked against the source document.

AI-generated source lists are treated as leads rather than citations. The research process does not rely on output that cannot be traced to accessible evidence.

Material Disclosure

AI use is disclosed when it would reasonably affect a reader’s assessment of authorship, originality, accuracy, methodology, evidence, translation, provenance, authenticity, visual truth or data analysis. Material uses normally requiring disclosure include substantial AI-generated draft text, automated translation central to disputed quotations, AI-generated or materially altered images, synthetic audio or video, cloned voices, automated analysis central to findings, AI-generated code used in a material technical test, reconstruction of an event, AI-created visualization affecting interpretation or a virtual interview persona.

Routine spellcheck, punctuation suggestions, formatting, word-count calculation, file conversion, internal task management, standard search functionality, accessibility formatting, basic transcription checked against the recording and minor coding assistance not central to findings do not normally require article-level disclosure. Human responsibility remains unchanged.

Disclosure Language

A disclosure identifies what the tool was used for and what human verification occurred. It may state that automated tools assisted a defined task, that a human author and editor checked claims, quotations, sources and final presentation, and that the output was not treated as evidence. Synthetic visual material is identified as generated or materially altered and as illustration rather than documentary evidence. Automated analysis disclosures identify the method, validation and limitations.

Naming a tool alone is not an adequate disclosure because readers need to understand the role it played.

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 method, disclosing conflicts, cooperating with corrections, accepting responsibility and defending the publication decision. Cyber Insight EU does not create synthetic journalists, fictional experts or fake contributor profiles. A protected pseudonym may be used for a real person facing a documented safety risk, but it is not confused with a fictitious identity.

AI-Assisted Research and Drafting

AI may help identify questions, terminology or possible sources, but the author independently verifies that a source exists, says what the output claims, is current, is authoritative for the relevant jurisdiction, contains the attributed quotation and has not been selectively used to omit contrary evidence.

AI-assisted drafting remains under human control. Authors and editors check for fabrication, generic or repetitive language, false certainty, copied wording, hidden bias, inaccurate comparison, unsupported superlatives, invented chronology, conflicting numbers, false quotations, jurisdictional errors, unnatural attribution, missing disclosure, promotional framing and pages designed for search volume rather than reader value. A draft generated from company material may reproduce the company’s perspective and is not treated as independent analysis without substantial reporting and review.

Translation and Transcription

Automated translation may assist understanding, but material translations are reviewed by a person competent in the relevant language or through another process proportionate to risk. Additional review applies to legal language, medical terms, political speeches, disputed quotations, culturally specific language, names, official titles and safety-sensitive instructions. Translation does not increase certainty or remove qualifications present in the original.

Automated transcription is checked against 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 treated as a perfect record.

Data Analysis and Coding

AI may assist data extraction, classification, pattern identification and coding. The methodology records input data, exclusions, labels, material prompts or instructions, software or model where relevant, validation sample, error rate, manual review, assumptions, reproducibility, known bias, version, date and limitations. Automated classification is not presented as objective truth merely because a model produced a score.

AI-generated code may contain security weaknesses, logical errors, deprecated methods, false dependencies, privacy problems, licensing concerns and hidden assumptions. Code central to an article is reviewed and tested by a competent person. A technical finding is not published merely because generated code returned the expected result.

Synthetic Images

Synthetic editorial images are labeled when a reasonable reader could mistake them for documentary material. Cyber Insight EU does not generate or publish misleading synthetic depictions of a real person committing wrongdoing, making a statement, attending an event, endorsing a product, experiencing injury, engaging in sexual conduct, participating in political activity or appearing in a place where the person was not present.

Illustrative synthetic images may be used for conceptual subjects when the image, caption and page context make the illustrative nature clear. The label remains meaningful when the image is shared outside the page where practicable.

Synthetic Audio, Voice and Video

Synthetic or cloned voices create high risk of impersonation and are not used to imply that a real person personally recorded or approved words. Use of a real person’s cloned voice requires a lawful, ethical and clearly disclosed basis. Generated or materially altered video is not presented as authentic footage. Disclosures explain what was generated or altered, whether a real person is depicted, whether the scene is a reconstruction, what evidence supports the underlying account and why the treatment was justified.

A reconstruction is based on identified evidence such as verified chronology, records, photographs, location data, witness accounts, maps or measurements. Uncertain elements are not presented as established, and a reconstruction is never described as original footage.

Detection and Reporting on AI

Synthetic-media detection tools may assist evaluation but are not infallible. Cyber Insight EU distinguishes confirmed synthetic material, verified manipulation, expert assessment, automated detection, platform label, unresolved suspicion and ordinary editing. It does not accuse a person of publishing a deepfake solely because one detector produced a score.

Reporting on AI systems distinguishes demonstration from deployed performance, benchmark from real-world use, company claim from independent test, model output from verified result, automation from human assistance, generation from understanding, laboratory result from commercial availability and planned feature from functioning product. Terms such as intelligent, autonomous, reasoning, conscious, unbiased, secure and human-level are not adopted uncritically.

Confidentiality and Personal Data

Confidential, personal, legally privileged, embargoed, unpublished or security-sensitive information is not entered into a third-party AI system without authorization and assessment of provider retention, training use, contractual terms, access, international transfer, deletion, source protection and necessity. Consumer AI tools are not assumed to be appropriate confidential workspaces.

AI use involving personal data is limited to what is necessary and lawful. Special care applies to children, biometric information, facial recognition, inferred traits, profiling, re-identification and automated decisions. An automated inference is not presented as verified personal fact without reliable evidence and a defensible public-interest basis.

Copyright and Commercial Content

AI-assisted content may create copyright, licensing, personality and attribution concerns. Authors verify that source material may be used, output does not unlawfully reproduce protected material, tool terms do not conflict with publication, a real person’s likeness is not misused and relevant credits and licenses are recorded.

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

Automated Moderation and Recommendations

If Cyber Insight EU introduces comments, accounts or personalized recommendations, automated tools remain subject to human oversight. Consequential decisions such as account restriction, removal of lawful criticism, harassment findings, impersonation findings, political-content limitations or appeal outcomes are not based solely on automated classification. Meaningful explanation and review are provided where appropriate.

Corrections and Contributor Declaration

AI-related errors are corrected under the Corrections and Updates Policy. A correction may be required for a fabricated citation, mistranslated quotation, misidentified person, inadequately labeled image, incorrect automated analysis, synthetic material presented as real, model-generated false claim or missing disclosure. Serious failures may require retraction and public explanation.

Contributors 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 may result in rejection, correction, retraction or termination of the contributor relationship.

Contact

Questions concerning AI use may be sent to editorial@cyberinsighteu.com. Concerns about undisclosed synthetic media or AI-related factual error may be sent to corrections@cyberinsighteu.com. Formal complaints may be sent to complaints@cyberinsighteu.com.