PlayMichigan covers Michigan’s licensed online casinos and sportsbooks for readers who are about to spend their own money. That raises the bar on everything we publish, and it is why we are putting in writing how artificial intelligence does and does not factor into our work. Every operator we cover is licensed by the Michigan Gaming Control Board, and we check our licensing claims against the MGCB’s own records rather than an operator’s marketing.
The short version: AI is a tool our editorial staff use, the way they use a spreadsheet, a style guide, or a search engine. It does not report, it does not test, it does not form opinions, and it does not publish. Every page on this site is written and reviewed by named members of our editorial team, and their names are on it.
Because the work differs by content type, this policy is broken into three parts: our news desk, our evergreen guides, and our reviews. Each one sets out what AI helps us do and what AI will never do for us.
1. Our news desk
Our news coverage is written and edited by journalists who cover this industry full time. AI supports that work. It does not do it.
What AI helps us do
- Streamline routine editorial tasks so writers and editors can dedicate more time to reporting, analysis, and audience-focused content.
- Monitor industry developments and identify potential news topics for editorial review.
- Organize, summarize, and evaluate large data sets that inform our coverage and operator assessments.
- Support research efforts by surfacing relevant information and highlighting areas that require additional human review.
- Generate ideas and uncover unique angles that journalists can develop into original reporting.
- Assist with quality control by helping identify potential grammar, style, and factual issues before publication.
What AI will never do for us
- Publish content without review and approval from a human editor.
- Make editorial decisions independently or replace the expertise of our writers and editors.
- Substitute for human judgment, experience, or accountability in the reporting process.
- Operate as anything other than a supporting tool designed to assist our editorial team.
“AI is another tool to help us cover the online gambling industry more expansively and effectively without losing that human expertise, experience, and trust. It aids editors and writers with basic tasks while freeing them to focus on more authoritative and expansive news stories they might otherwise be unable to produce. When you look at an editor’s or writer’s tool belt, AI is the newest piece of equipment.”
2. Our evergreen guides
Our evergreen pages are the explainers, how-to guides, and reference pages readers come back to: how deposits and withdrawals work, what a bonus actually pays out, and which operators hold a Michigan license. These pages change constantly, because the industry does.
What AI helps us do
- Research and verify information more efficiently.
- Keep bonus offers, promotions, and other rapidly changing details up to date.
- Process and organize large datasets to uncover meaningful trends and insights.
- Identify outdated, inconsistent, or conflicting information from operators.
- Simplify complex gambling topics so they are easier for readers to understand.
What AI will never do for us
- Publish content without human oversight and review.
- Replace our firsthand testing of casinos and sportsbooks.
- Make final review scores, ratings, or recommendations.
- Supersede the editorial standards and judgment that guide our coverage.
“The challenge with regional gaming sites is that every state is different, and regulations, promotions, and operator offerings can change quickly. AI helps us process large amounts of information faster, but every update is reviewed through an editor’s lens to ensure it’s accurate, relevant, and useful to readers.”
3. Our reviews
Every PlayMichigan review is built on first-hand testing. A member of our team registers the account, makes the deposit, plays the games, and requests the withdrawal. The ratings you see come out of our own scoring formulas, run against that testing data. AI helps us organize and process what our testers collect. It never substitutes for the testing itself.
What AI helps us do
- Organize and analyze large datasets generated during the testing process.
- Flag areas where additional testing or review may be needed.
- Assist with copyediting by identifying overlooked grammar and spelling errors.
- Run scoring calculations consistently and accurately.
- Gather straightforward public information, such as corporate details or site policies.
- Standardize images and screenshots before publication.
What AI will never do for us
- Create, alter, or fabricate testing results.
- Decide which casinos rank ahead of others.
- Make editorial judgments reserved for our editors.
- Replace first-hand testing with information gathered from third-party sources.
- Change or override the formulas that underpin our testing framework.
“AI supports our review process by helping manage and organize information, but it cannot replace genuine hands-on experience. Every insight we publish starts with real-world testing conducted by our experts. Without that human evaluation of quality, fairness, and user experience, there’s nothing meaningful for AI to analyze in the first place.
4. Where you will find our AI explainer
We do not think a policy page on its own is enough. You should be able to see how this applies to the specific page you are reading, at the moment you are reading it.
Every article on PlayMichigan carries a byline naming the writer or the PlayMichigan editorial team, the editor or fact-checker, and the date the page was last updated. Alongside those, you will find an expandable AI panel. Open it and it tells you which of the uses described on this page applied to that article, and it links back here.
Corrections
We get things wrong sometimes, and we would rather hear about it than not. If something on PlayMichigan is inaccurate or out of date, email corrections@playmichigan.com. A human reads every message sent to that address.
Third-party content
This policy covers content produced by the PlayMichigan editorial team. It does not cover material supplied by operators, advertisers, or other third parties that appears on this site, and we cannot speak to how those companies use AI in their own work.
This policy will change
These tools are moving quickly and our use of them will move with them. When it does, we will update this page and change the date at the top. The commitments in the “what AI will never do” sections are the part we do not expect to revise.
The people behind our content
If you want to know more about our team and what we do, check our About Us page.
