Our AI Policy

A real human researches, edits, and reviews every article on Happy Day Play. We use AI tools sparingly. Here is exactly where we draw the lines, and why.

Last reviewed: May 28, 206

Why we have an AI policy at all

Parenting content carries higher consequences than most content categories. A hallucinated statistic about toddler hitting, a fabricated "study" about sleep training, or an AI-generated piece of feeding advice can send a real family in the wrong direction with a real child. We take that responsibility seriously enough to be specific about exactly how we do, and do not, use AI tools.

This policy aligns with the Trust Project's AI transparency requirements (updated 2025) and with the emerging industry standard for credible publishers, including the Texas Tribune, the Financial Times, the Associated Press, and Reuters. Almost no parenting site has yet published their own AI policy. We think they should. This is ours.

What we do NOT use AI for

We do not use AI for any of the following:

  • Fact-checking. AI tools are unreliable at distinguishing real research from hallucinated research. We verify every factual claim against a real source that a human has read.

  • Generating images of children, caregivers, or families. All photos of children and families used in our editorial content are real photos, either taken at Happy Day Play events with consent, or licensed from photographers and stock libraries that use real subjects.

  • Generating quotes. Quotes attributed to anyone, including to "our team" or "a Family Life Educator," are real quotes from real people.

  • Replying to readers or correspondents. When you email us, a human reads and responds.

  • Recommending classes, programs, or services. Class recommendations within articles are made by us, based on our knowledge of who comes to which class and why.

What we DO use AI for, and how it's disclosed

We use AI tools for narrow operational tasks where a tool is genuinely useful and where the output is reviewed by a human before anything is published. Specifically:

  • Brainstorming headlines and titles. We sometimes ask an AI tool for a list of 10 possible headline options to choose from. The final headline is selected and refined by a human.

  • Grammar and copyediting checks. After a draft is complete, we sometimes use AI tools to flag typos, awkward phrasing, or unclear sentences. A human accepts or rejects each suggestion.

  • Summarizing source material for our own reference. When we are drafting an article that references a long research paper, we may use an AI tool to produce a summary that helps us find the relevant section faster. We then read the actual section in the actual paper before citing it.

  • Generating draft social media captions. A human writer reviews and edits before posting.

  • Alt text suggestions for images. A human reviews and approves before publication.

How human accountability is preserved

  1. Every article passes through Kaitlynn's verification workflow. Detailed in our Expert Verification Process. A human is reading every claim against a real source.

  2. Every source is verified by a human. AI tools are notorious for fabricating plausible-sounding citations. We open every cited source and confirm it exists and says what we are claiming it says.

  3. Every published article is signed by a real, named, accountable person. If something we publish is wrong, Kaitlynn is responsible instead of a tool, not a "team," not an algorithm.

Why our policy is stricter than most

Many publishers, including some major parenting sites, quietly use AI to post articles without any human review, generate images of children, or "verify" content against AI-summarized sources.

We've chosen the stricter approach for three reasons:

  • The stakes are real. Families make decisions about their children based on what they read. The consequences of a hallucinated parenting fact are different from the consequences of a hallucinated celebrity gossip fact.

  • Our value is human expertise, not scale. Happy Day Play is a small, expert-led business. Our competitive advantage isn't producing 50 AI-assisted articles a week. It is producing genuinely useful, expert-verified articles informed by real, hands-on experience with families.

What this means for you, the reader

When you read an article on Happy Day Play, here is what you can rely on:

  • A human verifying every fact in it.

  • The images of families are real.

  • The quotes are real.

  • The recommendations are real recommendations from a real practitioner.

  • The sources cited actually say what we say they say.

That bar should be the minimum for credible parenting content. It isn't, in much of our industry. We want you to know it is here.

If this policy changes

AI tools are evolving quickly, and our use of them may evolve too. If we materially change this policy, we will update the "Last reviewed" date below and note the change. We will not quietly broaden our AI use.

Related policies

For our broader editorial commitments, see our Editorial Guidelines. For details on who verifies our content, see Expert Verification Process. For our approach to sources and fact-checking, see Fact Check Policies.

This policy was last reviewed on May 28, 2026. We update this page whenever our practices materially change.