“AI can do many things, but it has to work with you. You ask it questions, and it responds. When prompted effectively, it can become a powerful partner, offering starting points and refining your work. In this dynamic, AI can engage in a dialogue with you, making the final product better than what either of you could achieve alone.”
In an era of rapid technological change, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is reshaping education, media and society. As a leading institution, the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media must stay abreast of this shift while upholding our mission and standards.
These principles guide our responsible use of GenAI, ensuring it enhances the student experience, fosters human and professional skills, and reflects our highest ethical standards.
We recognize that this is not a static field. As both technology and societal expectations shift, our approach must be flexible to adapt while adhering to our guiding principles.
Hear from UNC Hussman faculty and staff
“Generative AI (GenAI) is no longer just a buzzword — it’s becoming a core tool for research innovation at UNC Hussman. Whether it’s transforming how we communicate strategically to inform and persuade audiences or how our students learn to navigate an evolving media landscape, GenAI is creating exciting new possibilities.”
“AI should be a tool that empowers us, not one that replaces our unique abilities. By understanding its potential and limitations, we can harness its power for the betterment of our digital world.”
“AI cannot replace the spirit of journalism, or the resilient humans dedicated to its mission, but we must be more entrepreneurial as we reimagine our news organizations. If we are, journalism will survive and thrive in the AI economy, and journalists… will continue to serve their communities in times of crisis and beyond.”
“At the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media, which exists to help the local news industry, we built the Local News Audience Assistant to help journalists find exactly what they need, using AI… The chatbot was created out of the need for discoverability. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of valuable resources about building and growing audiences in the form of guides, Q&As, case studies, videos, audio conversations and more. However, once published, they often are lost to the black hole of the internet, making it hard for time-strapped journalists to find the most accurate resource they’re looking for.”
“What I’ve learned during this journey is that AI doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s not a wonder-tool that can read our minds and do our bidding with ease (at least not yet). It can only do what we tell it to do, and it only works if we give the right instructions. And that takes good old-fashioned human know-how. In other words, using artificial intelligence requires actual intelligence, the kind of savvy we’ve always tried to foster in higher education.”
University AI Resources
The Office of the Provost’s AI website is a central platform for sharing knowledge, engaging in community, driving innovation and fostering ethical AI practices.
The University has adopted its own campus-wide guidelines on the responsible use of GenAI by students, instructors, researchers and staff, available here. The UNC Hussman AI Code of Principles is meant to supplement the University’s guidelines by addressing concerns relevant to members of the UNC Hussman community.
