Published March 2026 — Clarifying how AI tools are utilized, reviewed, and documented across the project.
This section highlights our beliefs on AI, and what has changed since the creation of this project.
We strongly and firmly believe in ethical usage of AI and utilizing it for the greater good of humanity, and to better our lives where it can help. We also believe in sustainable usage of AI. Using corporate AI models like Chatgpt, Claude, Copilot, etc. has been proven to be harmful in many ways, and it also feeds data to these companies to train their models. After learning and observing how AI is used by our government and corporations, we decided to stop supporting that and switch to a local LLM(Info below about this). Our local model is sometimes used to be a supplement, meaning we will use it to expedite processes (as mentioned below) but will never make our content directly generated by AI. Any sources and information we receive are verified and fact-checked before publishing. While the local models are being used to assist in some circumstances, we still believe in learning, researching, and creating through traditional means that do not use AI. We want to maintain the human aspect of public facing communications, and will never let AI replace that. The inherent harms are not in the software itself, but the way that it is utilized and modified for the public to use. When it is used as means to replace jobs, or make more profit, we consider that unethical. We do not consider it unethitcal for an individual using it as a supplement for examples like building software learning new subjects as long as its not used as a replacement and involves fact-checking and human intervention before publishing anything.
The beginning of this project required a more in-depth website, so we utilizied AI to build it due to lack of time and funds to learn how to build a website or to pay someone (we also listed other usages below). This decision was only to build out the website layout, and not to deliver the content within it as the final product. From our time learning, we recognize that this is not a sustainable option as supporting these companies also means paying them to continue their harmful operations. A local model operates in a completely different ecosystem, as it is run independently on our own machines and does not require massive energy and data centers to function. This choice was clear as it meant we can have assistance on building portions of a website, while not supporting any harmful operations.
We do not believe AI should handle sensitive data, nor will we utilize AI to interact with this secure and confidential data. We do not believe in using AI for any generative art or photos. Our ideas and content are our own, and we will not let AI control our project, make decisions, or automate content and posts.
This section includes all of the sections we used regular corporate model AI for.
A local LLM (large language mode) is a self-hosted version of AI, meaning it is run solely on our own computers. There is no data sent to manufacturers outside of the AI, and the usage does not support and corporate models or feed into their data. It has the ability to be run completely offline, and does not require massive usage of energy or infrastructure to run. Just a simple computer.
Here is a list of what we did with the corporate model at the beginning when we utilized it.
Used to create the layout, design, and style of the website.
Used AI softwares to create transcripts and summaries of interviews.
Used to make first draft of important learning content and topics, and proof reading. This was not creating all the learning content with AI, but using a draft to organize important topics, which we than made into our own words.
This section describes our current usage of llm's, and why we decide to make that decision.
A local model is super efficient in terms of what it can do. We picked a local model as we do not have to pay for, support, or feed data into the corporate models who generally do not practice under good ethics. The local model is private and ran completely on our machines.
The local AI is used for website layouts, delegating different tasks like creating transcripts and summaries for interviews, and to find evidence and studies that we then review and fact-check for relevance.
We respect your privacy. The WV Clarity Project does not track, sell, or share personal data. Any information you choose to provide (such as through a contact form) is used solely for communication related to this project.
The WV Clarity Project is committed to accountability for all West Virginians regardless of party or institution. All candidates and incumbents are invited to interview. Candidates are asked about their plans and goals. Incumbents are additionally asked about their record in office. All participants receive a similar structured format and fact-checked summary. Those who decline or do not respond are documented as such. We do not speak for any party, candidate, or corporation.
The WV Clarity Project is committed to making our website accessible and usable for everyone, including people with disabilities. We aim to follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA and continuously improve our site. If you experience any accessibility issues or have suggestions, please fill out our contact form.