The Surprise Standard uses AI to help cover more of Surprise, Arizona than a small newsroom could read on its own. This page says what the AI does, what people do, and how you can tell which stories it touched.
What AI does
Each night, software reads new public records from the city, such as council meeting documents and recordings and the city's payment records. It looks for what is newsworthy and writes first drafts of stories using Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic. Each draft is checked automatically against the records it was written from, so that quotes and figures that don't appear in them are flagged for the editor.
What people do
Nothing an AI drafts is published automatically. Every draft goes to an editor, who reviews it and decides whether it runs. The editor is responsible for everything we publish, however it was drafted.
How stories are labeled
A story that began as an AI draft carries this line under its byline: "This story was drafted with AI from public records and reviewed by an editor before publication." Those stories also list the documents they were written from, so you can check our work.
If we get it wrong
We correct mistakes promptly and say so at the top of the story, whoever or whatever made them. If you see an error, email tips@thesurprisestandard.com.