AI Content Policy

This AI content policy explains how 1stepGrow uses artificial intelligence tools in its journalism, the limits we place on them, and how AI systems may use the content we publish. It applies to our writers, editors and guest contributors, and to every format on the site, including news, comparisons, ranked lists, career guides and tutorials.

Our position in brief

At 1stepGrow, people write, edit and are accountable for everything we publish, and AI tools are used only as assistants. A named, verified author stands behind every article, and an editor reviews it before it goes live.

We think AI tools can help writers work more carefully, for example by transcribing an interview or spotting an unclear sentence. They can also produce confident, fluent text that is wrong. This policy is designed to keep the benefits while making sure no AI error reaches readers unchecked. It sits alongside our editorial policy, which sets the standards all our content must meet.

How we may use AI tools

Our writers and editors may use AI tools for supporting tasks, provided a person checks the result. These tasks include:

• Research leads: suggesting topics, questions or sources to investigate. Any source an AI tool suggests is found and read by the writer before it is used.
• Transcription: turning recorded interviews into text, which the writer checks against the recording before quoting anyone.
• Summarising long documents for the writer: helping a writer find their way through lengthy reports, syllabi or documentation. The writer confirms any detail against the original before using it.
• Outlining: suggesting a possible structure for a piece, which the writer then shapes and writes.
• Grammar and clarity: flagging errors, awkward phrasing or jargon.
• Checking code snippets: suggesting fixes or explanations for code, which is then tested by a person.
• Translation drafts: producing a first draft of a translation, which a fluent person reviews and corrects.

What AI never does at 1stepGrow

Some uses of AI are not allowed at 1stepGrow in any circumstances, because they would mislead readers or undermine trust in our work.

• No AI bylines or fake authors. Every article is credited to a real, verified person with an author page. We do not invent personas.
• No unreviewed AI output. Nothing generated by an AI tool is published without a person reading, checking and editing it.
• No AI-generated quotes. We never attribute to a real person words that an AI tool produced. Quotations come from interviews, statements or published sources.
• No AI-invented facts. We never publish statistics, sources, citations or references that an AI tool produced without verifying them against a real, checkable source.
• No synthetic images of real people or events. We do not publish AI-generated photorealistic images of real people or of real events.

Human review and fact-checking

Every claim in an AI-assisted piece is checked by a person against a reliable source before publication. AI tools are not treated as sources in their own right.

In practice, this means:

• the writer verifies each fact, figure and name against a primary or reputable secondary source, as our editorial policy requires;
• an editor reviews the article before publication, as with any other piece;
• where an AI tool summarised a document, the writer checks the relevant passages in the original;
• the named author takes responsibility for the finished article, however it was produced.

If an error does reach publication, we correct it openly under our correction policy. The use of an AI tool is never an excuse for an inaccuracy.

Disclosure of AI use

When AI tools have materially contributed to a piece, we say so in the article. A short note explains what the tool was used for, for example that a translation was drafted with AI assistance and then reviewed by a fluent editor.

We treat AI use as material when it shaped the substance of what readers see, such as:

• a translation drafted with an AI tool;
• an AI-generated illustration or cover image;
• substantial wording from an AI tool kept in the published text after editing.

Routine assistance that does not shape the substance, such as grammar suggestions, transcription checked against the recording, or research leads that the writer verified independently, does not usually need a note.

Images and illustrations

We may use AI tools to create cover art, diagrams or illustrations, and we label them where relevant. These images illustrate an idea rather than document something that happened.

We do not use AI to create photorealistic images of real people or real events, and we do not alter genuine photographs in ways that change what they show. Where a real photograph is used, we credit it in line with our copyright page.

Tutorials and code

Every code example in a 1stepGrow tutorial is tested by a person before it is published. AI tools may help a writer draft, explain or debug code, but the writer runs it, checks that the output shown in the article is real, and makes sure the explanation matches what the code actually does.

If readers find that a code sample no longer works, for example because a library has changed, we treat it as an update or correction and revise the tutorial.

Guest contributors and AI

Guest contributors must disclose any use of AI tools in their pitch, and wholly AI-generated submissions are rejected.

• Contributors should explain which tools they used and for what, such as grammar checks or outlining.
• Contributors remain responsible for every fact, quotation and citation in their piece, and our editors may ask for sources.
• The same limits apply as for our own writers: no AI-generated quotes, no invented statistics or citations, and no synthetic images of real people.
• Approved final drafts are shared as a view-only Google Docs link. We never accept file uploads.

Our editors may decline any submission that appears to break these rules. Full guidance for contributors is on our Write for Us page.

Privacy and confidentiality

We do not paste personal data, unpublished submissions or embargoed information into public AI tools. This protects the people we write about, our contributors and the organisations that share information with us in confidence.

In particular, our writers and editors do not enter into public AI tools:

• names, contact details or other personal information about readers, sources or contributors;
• guest post drafts or pitches that have not been published;
• information shared with us under embargo or in confidence;
• unpublished interview recordings or notes containing personal details, unless the tool is used under terms that keep the material private.

How we handle personal information more generally is set out in our privacy policy.

How AI systems may use our content

We welcome answer engines and AI assistants that read our pages and cite them with attribution and a link. We also set limits on bulk commercial reuse.

Answer engines and AI assistants

Our robots.txt file allows answer engines and AI assistants to access the site, and we publish an /llms.txt file that describes our content for these systems. When they cite 1stepGrow, we ask that they name 1stepGrow, link to the original article, and represent what it says accurately, including any dates that show when information was correct.

Crawlers we block

We block a small number of aggressive, low-value crawlers that place a heavy load on the site without offering attribution or benefit to readers.

Datasets and bulk commercial reuse

Building datasets from our content, training models on it, or reusing it in bulk for commercial purposes requires a licence. Details are on our content licensing page, and our copyright and terms and conditions pages explain the rights that apply to our work.

Reporting concerns

If you think an article breaks this AI content policy, or contains an error of any kind, please tell us. You can use our contact page or email contacts@1stepgrow.com. For factual errors, use the subject "Correction request" and follow the steps in our correction policy, including the article URL, the claim in question and your evidence.

Review of this policy

AI tools are changing quickly, so we review this AI content policy periodically and whenever our use of these tools changes significantly. The date of the latest revision appears at the top of the page, and oversight of this policy sits with our executive board.