Artificial Intelligence and Writing Ethics: Kyle van Oosterum's Principle

Philosopher Kyle van Oosterum from the University of Southampton has put forward a new principle for the acceptable use of artificial intelligence in professional writing. Shared in his newsletter Unchambered, this approach argues that tasks appropriate to assign to humans are largely appropriate for artificial intelligence models as well.

According to the principle proposed by Kyle van Oosterum, having an artificial intelligence write an article and failing to disclose this constitutes a violation of writing ethics. While it is morally unacceptable for writers to take credit for another's labor, this rule continues to apply to non-human tools as well.

On the other hand, the principle does not prohibit the use of artificial intelligence tools for secondary tasks such as transcribing interviews, providing feedback on draft texts, suggesting reductions for word count overruns, developing podcast questions, and performing final checks. It is emphasized that writers continue to remain responsible for the final output.