Mekong Review AI Policy

As an independent publication focused on Asian literature, perspectives, and expression, Mekong Review values the craft and creativity of original writing and reporting. We, therefore, do not accept drafts or submissions produced by generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). 

We are concerned about GenAI in multiple ways: the way multiple models have been trained by using existing works by writers and creatives without consent or compensation, and with little regard for intellectual rights; the massive environmental concerns associated with the infrastructure needed to sustain GenAI and its development; and the flattening of voice and human experience when people grow increasingly accustomed to getting machines to articulate their views and experiences for them. We would encourage everyone to think more critically and deeply about the ethics of AI adoption, and to be more thoughtful and intentional in engaging with such technology, rather than being swept up by trends and hype.

We understand that many people find GenAI tools useful, particularly for tasks like data organisation, proofreading, or translation. As an Asia-focused publication that seeks to create as much space as possible for Asian and emerging writers—for whom English might not be their first language—we recognise that GenAI might be seen as a helpful tool to overcome or cope with language barriers and challenges. Therefore, we combine our rejection of the use of GenAI with a promise to all our contributors: once we commission your work, we commit to working with you on your writing as much and for as long as required to ensure it is up to publication standards. Our contributors are commissioned for their perspectives, their expertise, their deep knowledge and experience—these are the qualities that we value most of all; things like grammar and the structure and flow of an article are what editors are here for.

Mekong Review does not use GenAI—or any other form of AI—in our editing and production process. All drafts submitted by our contributors are edited by our Editor-in-Chief, who works collaboratively with the contributor as many times as is necessary before being finalised for layout. Once the layout for an issue is finalised, the entire PDF document is proofread for errors, typos, and style consistency—again without any AI assistance—before being approved for print.

Although we do include fact-checking in our editing process, and do our best to keep an eye out for GenAI tells, as a publication with a tiny team, we must acknowledge our limitations in being able to police GenAI use in the work that’s submitted to us. It would not be possible for us to identify every use of GenAI, every time. For the most part, we rely on the integrity of our contributors to respect our position on GenAI, and to be open and upfront with us on whether and how they have used GenAI in their work. Mekong Review operates on relationships of trust with our contributors, especially since we do not have staff writers and work primarily with freelancers. If we commission someone to write, photograph, or illustrate for an issue of our magazine, we do so from a position of trust and faith in their professionalism, skill, and commitment to truthful, fair, and ethical work—this has been the case even before the issue of GenAI came into the picture.
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