# Editor’s Notebook: Our work is produced by real journalists, not AI bots  
**Published:** 2026-05-15T14:34:20.000Z  
**Source:** [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/05/15/editors-notebook-our-work-is-produced-by-real-journalists-not-ai-bots/)  
**Republished from:** [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/05/15/editors-notebook-our-work-is-produced-by-real-journalists-not-ai-bots/) (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)  
**Canonical:** https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/05/15/editors-notebook-our-work-is-produced-by-real-journalists-not-ai-bots/

By Linda Blackford, [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com) · May 15, 2026

![](https://kentuckylantern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/TKC-drone-shot-at-sunset-1024x767.jpg) (The Kentucky Castle on Versailles Road was recently part of a humorous AI prank. (Photo courtesy of the Kentucky Castle))

It’s true that there’s [a huge castle on a hill](https://www.facebook.com/reel/2235926087242550/)halfway between Lexington and Versailles, where you can hold a wedding.

It’s not true that “Game of Thrones” was filmed there, and Peter Dinklage liked it so much he bought a house on the property.

It’s true that U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie has rebelled against President Trump. It’s not true that he’s in a “throuple” with uber liberal AOC and Ilhan Omar, despite a clearly  fake photo of him holding hands with both women.

Yes, as the tech bros like to tell us, artificial intelligence [is already here,](https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article315747513.html?link_source=ta_first_comment&taid=6a05e38b5402f70001838417&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawRyzk1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFneGpYN0J6YUpPeWJtY21Ec3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHreXWBHkongZrPURNGMO1ioQWSVCyb7u5kCrdNs_H0LxFmsn6iWgTbxbR8Jv_aem_2NAvK9m6vfpVBOhF_wkeLg) and it ranges from the very funny (see the 200 commenters arguing about whether “Game of Thrones” was really filmed at the [Kentucky Castle](https://www.thekentuckycastle.com/) and how to pronounce “Versailles”) to the sinister (the ad about Massie was produced by a PAC trying to unseat him).

But one place you won’t find AI is in the stories of the Kentucky Lantern. Our parent organization, States Newsroom, recently released [new guidelines](https://statesnewsroom.com/ai-policy/)on our use of AI that lays out very clearly how we will use and not use a technology with great promise and even greater peril.

“While AI offers many benefits, we believe it raises many concerns related to accuracy, privacy, and the misuse of copyrighted material in training AI systems,” the policy reads. “It may also be used to spread misinformation and create deceptive words, images and sounds.”

Here is our pledge: “States Newsroom does not publish stories or commentaries generated by AI. We do not publish any images, videos or audio clips created or altered by AI. If the use of AI is the point of a story in question, AI-generated content may be used, but will be prominently labeled and explained.”

That’s not to say we won’t ever use AI. We use AI every time we google something; AI has huge potential in wrangling complex data sets, finding patterns, and uncovering corruption. But any way we use AI is only in service to the journalism our reporters do every day.

AI is  creeping up around us everywhere. Like all States Newsroom outlets, the Kentucky Lantern distributes its content for free. But recently, we discovered that an organization had started taking our content and rewriting it with AI. Thankfully, after we asked it to stop, the organization went back to using our complete stories and columns. But not everyone will agree to that.

States Newsroom has an ongoing advisory committee to conduct periodic reviews of our policies, as well as consulting with industry experts on best practices.

But we want our readers to know they are consuming news written by trained and experienced journalists, not AI bots. We can’t be sure of a lot these days, but when you read the Kentucky Lantern, you can be sure of that.

## Sources

- [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/05/15/editors-notebook-our-work-is-produced-by-real-journalists-not-ai-bots/)