1) Purpose

Orla Kelly Publishing uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support authors and improve our services. This policy explains:

• Where we use AI
• How we protect confidentiality, personal data, and intellectual property
• What authors must disclose when submitting work
• How we align our practices with the principles and transparency expectations of the European Union AI Act
  

2) Definitions

• AI tools: software that can generate, summarise, classify, translate, or analyse content (including “generative AI”).
• Author Content: manuscript drafts, outlines, proposals, synopses, sample chapters, and any supporting materials you submit.
• You (Author): anyone submitting content to Orla Kelly Publishing for feedback, support, evaluation, or publication consideration.

3) Our role under the EU AI Act

Depending on the feature:

• We act as a deployer (user) of third-party AI tools to help us evaluate submissions and support authors.
• For our website chat and any AI-enabled author support we provide under our brand, we may also be considered a provider of an AI-enabled feature.

We design and operate these features with human oversight and transparency so users are not misled.

4) Where we use AI (what it does, and what it does not do)

We may use AI:

• Website chat: to answer common questions and route queries.
• Editorial support: to provide drafting support, summaries, structure suggestions, clarity checks, or market positioning feedback.
• Submission evaluation support: to help classify content (for example genre signals, readability, consistency checks, or potential issues to review).

We do not use AI:

• To make decisions about individuals in high-risk areas (such as employment, credit, housing, insurance, immigration, or access to essential services).
• For biometric identification or categorisation of individuals.
• To impersonate people, manipulate users, or mislead readers about authorship or sources.

Editorial and publishing decisions are made by humans. AI may support our review, but it does not replace it.

5) Transparency and disclosure

5.1 Website chat transparency

When you interact with our website chat, you may be interacting with an AI-enabled system. Where appropriate, we will clearly indicate this so users can make informed choices.

5.2 Author disclosure requirement

Authors must disclose AI use at submission. Your disclosure must include:

• The tool(s) used (names and versions if known)
• The purpose (e.g., brainstorming, rewriting, translation, summarising, critique)
• The extent of AI involvement (light, moderate, substantial)
• Whether AI outputs affected facts, citations, quotations, or key claims
• What you did to review and verify the content

Failure to disclose material AI use may result in rejection, withdrawal from consideration, or revision requirements.

6) Human oversight and accountability

6.1 Author accountability

Authors remain fully responsible for:

• Originality of the work
• Accuracy of factual statements
• Citations and quotations (including verifying sources exist and are correctly represented)
• Ensuring the work does not defame, misrepresent, or unlawfully disclose private information
• Securing any permissions required for third-party content

AI-generated text can be incorrect or fabricated. Authors must fact-check and validate.

6.2 Publisher oversight

We maintain human oversight by:

• Reviewing AI-assisted evaluations before making editorial or publishing decisions
• Escalating sensitive matters (privacy, defamation risk, identifiable real-person allegations) for human review
• Providing authors a way to request clarification or a human follow-up where AI-assisted feedback is used

7) Data governance, confidentiality, and privacy

7.1 Confidentiality controls

We treat submitted manuscripts and author materials as confidential business information. Authors should not include sensitive personal data unless necessary for the work.

7.2 Personal data and real-person stories

If your work includes real personal stories, you must ensure you have a lawful and ethical basis to share that information and that you have taken reasonable steps to protect privacy where required (for example: consent, anonymisation, or legal review for high-risk allegations).

7.3 What not to submit through AI features

Do not submit via website chat:

• Full unpublished manuscripts
• Highly sensitive personal data (health, sexual life, criminal allegations, etc.)
• Information covered by NDAs or confidentiality obligations

Use our designated submission channels instead.

7.4 Security

We apply security measures appropriate to the risk, including access controls and cybersecurity practices. No system is risk-free. If you believe confidential information has been exposed, contact us immediately at: [security email].

(For more detail on how we process personal data, see our Privacy Policy.)

8) Intellectual property and rights protection

Authors must use AI tools responsibly to protect rights:

• Do not use AI in a way that violates copyright or creates derivative copying of protected works.
• Do not request an AI tool to imitate the unique style or voice of a specific living author or identifiable creator in a way that risks misappropriation or deception.
• Review AI tool terms to avoid tools that claim ownership of your inputs/outputs or reuse your content for training without appropriate controls.

9) Quality, bias, and risk management

AI outputs may reflect bias or stereotypes and may produce inaccurate or incomplete results. We address this by:

• Using AI outputs as signals, not final authority
• Applying human review for sensitive content and real-person claims
• Encouraging authors to check for bias, unsupported assertions, and overconfident language

10) Third-party AI tools and vendors

We may rely on third-party AI providers. Where applicable, we aim to:

• Select providers with appropriate privacy and security controls
• Limit sharing of submitted content to what is necessary to provide the service
• Maintain governance over how AI is used in our workflows

11) Policy updates

We may update this policy as technology and law evolve. Material changes will be reflected by updating the “Last updated” date.

 

12) Contact

[getpublished@orlakellypublishing.com]