AI Ethics and Transparency Policy

Readers should know how the work they read, watch, and listen to is produced. AI is part of my toolkit, and this disclosure explains plainly how I use it, where I don’t, and where the responsibility ultimately rests.

Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Transparency Policy

I use a range of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools as part of my research, production, and editing process for my Substack and for other places where my work is featured — whether in written, audio, or video form. Here’s what that actually means.

Tools I Use: ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Claude for research, ideation, fact-checking, and editing. ChatGPT and Canva for images and visuals. YouTube Studio for video production. Grammarly for copy editing. ElevenLabs and Transistor for podcast production. Substack’s built-in publishing and audio/video tools, along with other standard off-the-shelf software.

Research: I use AI for broad research — getting oriented on a topic, summarizing background, and identifying what’s worth digging into further with primary sources.

Ideas: I use AI to brainstorm angles and think through how to approach a piece.

Fact-checking: I use AI to help identify and verify facts and figures before publication. When a fact matters to the substance of what I’m writing, I rely on the underlying source — not simply an AI-generated answer.

Organizing: I use AI to help organize my thoughts and notes into a structure before I write.

Editing: I sometimes use AI for editing — primarily to tighten language, improve clarity, and help meet word-count requirements, particularly when writing for outlets with strict length limits.

Confidentiality: From time to time, sources provide me with information I consider confidential. That information is never entered into any AI software.

What AI Does Not Do: I don’t use AI to generate columns and publish them under my name. AI also doesn’t decide what I think or the positions I take. Nearly four decades of direct involvement in politics at the national, state, and local levels — not a tool — inform my analysis and conclusions.

Who Is Accountable: Everything published under my byline is my responsibility. I make the final decisions about what I write, what I argue, what I include, and what I publish.

I’ll update this disclosure as my practices and the technology evolve.

Last updated: July, 2026