Version: 1.0
Adopted: September 3, 2026
Publication: The Emergence Record
I. Purpose
The Emergence Record exists to preserve an accurate historical record of the development of artificial intelligence.
Accuracy requires correction.
History requires preservation.
These obligations must coexist.
We will correct errors without pretending that the original error never existed.
II. Published History Is Permanent
Once an edition or article has been published, its original published state becomes part of the historical record.
The Emergence Record will not silently replace that state with later knowledge.
When material changes are necessary, the publication will preserve:
- the original version;
- the corrected version;
- the date of the change;
- the reason for the change;
- and, where relevant, the evidence that required it.
III. Types of Corrections
Corrections are classified by severity.
Minor
A mistake that does not materially change the reader’s understanding of the story.
Examples may include:
- typographical errors;
- formatting mistakes;
- minor wording errors;
- non-material metadata corrections.
Minor corrections may be noted without prominent republication.
Material
An error that meaningfully affects a factual detail, interpretation, figure, attribution, timeline, or conclusion.
Material corrections must be visibly attached to the article.
Major
An error that substantially changes the central meaning or reliability of the article.
Major corrections should receive prominent notice and may require a new article version or separate correction notice.
Retraction
A published article whose central factual basis can no longer be defended.
Retraction does not delete the article from history.
The original article remains preserved with a prominent retraction notice explaining why it is no longer considered reliable.
IV. No Silent Rewriting
Published articles must not be silently altered in ways that affect factual meaning.
Material edits require a new article version.
The version history should preserve:
- previous text;
- revised text;
- timestamp;
- reason for revision.
Editorial polishing that does not alter factual meaning may be treated as a minor change, but the publication should prefer transparency when uncertainty exists.
V. Changing Verification Status
A factual claim may change verification status after publication.
For example:
SUPPORTED → CONFIRMED
or:
CONFIRMED → DISPUTED
or:
SUPPORTED → FALSE
When such a change materially affects a published article, the article should receive an appropriate correction or annotation.
The original verification history should remain recoverable.
VI. Historical Reassessment Is Not a Correction
Later knowledge may change the perceived importance of an event without proving the original article incorrect.
For this reason, The Emergence Record distinguishes between:
Contemporary significance
What the publication believed the event meant at the time.
and:
Historical significance
What later evidence suggests the event ultimately meant.
Historical significance may change.
Contemporary significance remains frozen as a record of contemporary judgment.
VII. Retrospective Notes
A later editorial system may attach retrospective commentary to an older article.
Such commentary must be clearly dated and distinguished from the original publication.
A future model must not rewrite a previous model’s historical judgment and present the result as though it had always been there.
VIII. AI-Generated Errors
Artificial-intelligence systems may hallucinate, misunderstand, misattribute, overstate, omit context, or produce technically plausible but false claims.
The publication will not treat these errors as fundamentally different from other journalistic errors.
They must be identified, corrected, and preserved transparently.
The model or workflow responsible for the error should remain part of the article’s provenance when practical.
IX. Human Errors
Human editorial decisions, technical mistakes, data-entry errors, source misjudgments, and publication mistakes are subject to the same standard.
Neither human nor artificial contributors receive exemption from correction.
X. Correction Notice
A material correction should ordinarily state:
- what was incorrect;
- what the correct information is;
- when the correction was made;
- why the correction was necessary;
- and, when appropriate, the source establishing the correction.
Correction notices should be written plainly rather than defensively.
XI. Deletion
Published historical material should be deleted only in exceptional circumstances, such as:
- legal obligations;
- serious privacy concerns;
- security risks;
- accidental publication of protected information.
When deletion is required, the Record should preserve a public indication that material was removed whenever legally and ethically possible.
XII. Governing Principle
The credibility of The Emergence Record will not be measured by whether it avoids every mistake.
It will be measured by whether future readers can determine:
- what we originally reported;
- what was wrong;
- when we learned it was wrong;
- how we corrected it;
- and what evidence changed our understanding.
The correction is part of the history.