Current Affairs puts ban on AI-generated articles and art into union contract
The magazine permits limited technological assistance but says published writing and illustrations must remain human-made.
Current Affairs has written a ban on AI-generated articles and illustrations into its new union contract, requiring the reader-supported nonprofit magazine’s published writing and visual art to remain human-made.
The policy does not bar all technological assistance. Writers may use new tools for research, and artists may use tools for limited tasks such as changing a colour, adding texture or creating a small element. The magazine draws the line between technology that assists workers and technology used to replace them.
The Current Affairs staff union ratified and signed the two-year agreement after bargaining concluded in September, according to the Chicago News Guild. The Current Affairs staff is represented by Chicago News Guild, Local 34071, an affiliate of The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America. Editor-in-Chief Nathan J. Robinson said the measure lets staff use helpful technology while ensuring they need not fear replacement.
The agreement also guarantees paid time off, parental and family leave, health insurance, minimum salaries, protection from arbitrary dismissal, sick time, free-speech protections, board representation and bonuses. The NewsGuild described the contract as a potential model for media workers weighing unionisation.
In announcing the editorial rule, Current Affairs said it was responding to the “slopification of media”, arguing that publishers were rushing to substitute AI for writers and in some cases publishing AI-written work without clear disclosure. It cited examples including AI-written material attributed to nonexistent Sports Illustrated journalists and an AI-generated Wall Street Journal op-ed credited to hedge-fund billionaire Stan Druckenmiller.
The magazine said it had received freelance submissions showing what it regarded as signs of AI use. Press Gazette reported that Current Affairs warned contributors its editors would be vigilant in detecting such material, while conceding that some might still evade scrutiny.
Current Affairs began as a print magazine in 2016 and now publishes six print issues a year. It says it has published 62 issues, commissioned hundreds of handmade artworks and often spends weeks or months taking articles from draft to publication. Its stated aim is that readers encounter human thought and artistry rather than material that merely appears human-created but was produced by mathematical systems.