AALBC uses artificial intelligence as a tool, not as a substitute for human authorship.
AI-assisted tools may be used behind the scenes to support website development, programming, data processing, research assistance, administrative work, and other technical and operational tasks that help us maintain and improve AALBC.com. AI may also assist us in preparing or refining non-editorial material such as this policy.
However, AALBC’s original editorial content is 100% human-generated.
Our book reviews, articles, essays, author interviews, and commentary are created by people, not generated by artificial intelligence. We do not use AI to write a book review and present it as the opinion of a human reviewer. We do not publish AI-generated articles or essays under a person’s byline. We do not use AI to manufacture an author’s responses to an interview or substitute machine-generated commentary for a person’s thoughts and experiences.
This distinction has become increasingly important. Research published in 2026 found that approximately half of newly published online articles are now primarily AI-generated. Separately, research into global Internet traffic found that automated traffic has surpassed human traffic. As more of what we encounter online is generated, processed, or delivered by machines, AALBC believes there is increasing value in maintaining a place where readers can hear directly from other people.
For a platform devoted to books, authors, ideas, culture, and the Black literary tradition, the human voice matters. A book review should reflect a reader’s experience with a book. An interview should represent a genuine exchange with an author. An essay should express the ideas and perspective of the person whose name appears on it.
This commitment applies specifically to AALBC’s original editorial content. AALBC also publishes or displays material supplied by third parties—including publishers, authors, advertisers, website visitors, and other outside sources. We cannot guarantee how third parties create material they provide to us.
We embrace technology when it helps us operate a better independent platform. We draw the line at using artificial intelligence to replace the human voices our readers come to AALBC to discover.
Technology may help us build and operate AALBC. People create AALBC’s original editorial content.
For additional context, see Graphite’s research on the growth of AI-generated online articles and the Thales/Imperva annual Bad Bot reports on automated Internet traffic.
