Te Waha Nui’s AI policy

March 16 2026

At Te Waha Nui, we believe news is best created by humans. Although artificial intelligence tools can speed up workflows and help in the creation of news, it must be written by humans to ensure accuracy, fairness and balance.

As student journalists, our priority is developing the right skillset to seamlessly integrate ourselves into the workforce. We must balance learning how newsrooms utilise AI tools with developing a solid foundation of key journalistic skills.

Our Use of AI

No Content is Created by AI

1. Everything you read on TWN is written and edited by humans.

2. All images, videos and audio clips are real and are not created or enhanced with AI tools.

AI is used to assist some news production

1. Transcription

Our journalists may use AI to transcribe audio interviews. If an interview is being quoted or used as a source for key information, journalists will listen to the original audio clip to check the transcription is accurate.

2. Translation

Our journalists may use AI to translate TWN articles into te reo Māori. These translations will be checked over by someone who is fluent in te reo before publication.

3. Research

Our journalists may use AI as a research tool for search, including but not limited to: finding sources, analysing long documents and datasets, and conducting background research. We will always treat AI as an unverified source and we will fact check accordingly.

Transparency of AI use

1. AI use will be acknowledged at the end of every Te Waha Nui story to ensure transparency.

2. When AI is used in any ways not listed above, we will clearly state how it was used.

AI was not used in the creation of this policy.