Evidence Based Birth® Statement on Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

Last updated Feb. 25, 2026 

The purpose of this statement is to describe to the public how Evidence Based Birth (EBB) handles (and in general, attempts to avoid) the use of AI in our publications and workplace.  

Definitions: 

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI): any technology or machine that can perform tasks generally associated with human intelligence, including problem solving, decision making, planning, reasoning, creating, among others.  
  • Weak AI/Narrow AI: refers to systems that can perform complex but specific tasks like analyzing data sets, identify patterns, generating text and images, or making predictions. All existing AI tools fall under the category of Weak AI.  
  • Generative AI refers to artificial Narrow Intelligence tools that use algorithms to create content like text, images, audio, or video based on patterns found in training data in response to prompts written by humans.  
  • Artificial General Intelligence refers to a hypothetical ability of a machine to demonstrate broad, human-level intelligence.  
  • Large Language Model (LLM): giant statistical prediction machines that repeatedly predict the next word in a sequence, trained on huge amounts of human-generated data. LLMs are what allow for humans to communicate through prompts (rather than through code) with machines.  
  • Hallucination: when AI generated data includes responses that are incorrect, misleading, or false, but are presented as being true or factual.  

Ethical Considerations of Generative AI 

The main role of EBB is to publish accurate, accessible, and inclusive research that empowers communities. Due to the risk of hallucination and other inherent biases, AI tools can potentially threaten the accuracy and quality of information. For birthing families, health care professionals, and birth workers, there can be serious real-world consequences if inaccurate or misleading information from AI is put into practice. On the other hand, AI could also be used in strategic ways to make information more accessible (such as for the hearing-impaired or for people who speak languages other than English).   

One of our main ethical concerns about the use of AI is the environmental threat that AI companies pose to our communities. The data centers that support AI tools require enormous amounts of energy and fresh water to function. For example, the amount of energy it takes to generate one AI cartoon image displaying a person and their hobbies is equivalent to the amount of energy it would take to fully charge a cell phone. The effects of AI data centers on communities include increased electricity costs, increased exposure to air and noise pollution, increased use of fossil fuels such as natural gas, and water scarcity (Barrington 2025; Han et al. 2024; Sonka 2025; UN 2025). Issues of environmental degradation and pollution intersect with issues of racism and white supremacy, manifesting as environmental racism. Community organizations have stated that the construction and expansion of data centers disproportionately impact Black communities and other communities of color (Marrinan 2025; Tabuchi 2025). Rural communities are also calling out how the AI data center boom may negatively impact utility costs, increase natural gas usage, contribute to sound pollution, and strain sources of fresh water in places such as central Kentucky, where EBB’s headquarters are located (Sonka 2025).  

Violation of privacy is another concern. At EBB, we do not provide or sell customer data to any outside organization. The use of AI tools (including AI tools now being embedded in third-party apps used by many businesses), could put our proprietary business information at risk, as many companies have begun harvesting data from companies like ours to build their own AI models. These other companies’ practices of harvesting EBB’s data might be added to the fine print of terms and conditions, or companies may engage in data harvesting from EBB without our consent. These companies may also transfer this information to other companies without obtaining explicit written consent.  

At EBB we hold a core value of sustainability, as we would like to continue serving the public and remain a viable and profitable company in the long-term. On August 25, 2023, we placed a statement on the footer of our website, explicitly stating that “Copying, reproducing, capturing, or scraping for any purpose is prohibited.” However, based on findings we have observed in AI platforms, we believe that AI companies are scraping our website without our permission in order to train, configure, and profit off of their generative AI models.  

Thus, we believe that various AI companies have been violating EBB’s intellectual property rights and harming our business. When AI companies scrape and enter EBB Signature Articles, EBB products, or other EBB assets into their generative AI platforms, this allows other companies to profit off of EBB’s hard work and intellectual property. We have never once been reimbursed for this usage. Not a single AI company has ever received written permission to scrape our content to train their generative AI models. Meanwhile, increasing numbers of people are reading summaries of our research in AI platforms without ever visiting the EBB website (often because EBB’s work was not credited/cited, nor linked to). As a result, generative AI companies are weakening EBB’s ability to continue operating by lowering the value of EBB’s business services.  

Also, when an AI company generates AI materials from our intellectual property without our consent, this act removes EBB’s control over our intellectual property and makes childbirth information less accurate and less safe for the public to use. For example, when an AI company trains their AI model with our intellectual property without EBB’s consent, then we have no control over future generative AI information that relies on past EBB content. Then, when research changes or updates are needed, outdated information may continue to be disseminated by the AI platform. 

Another major concern of our team is humanitarian. Many companies are developing generative AI platforms with the explicit goal of reducing the costs of employing human beings (usually by firing or laying off large numbers of people). These actions are designed to enrich the few executives at the top while exploiting workers and ignoring the needs of entire families and communities. At EBB, we believe that work is a worthwhile and lifegiving function for those who are able to work, and we wholeheartedly reject the philosophy espoused by billionaires such as Sam Altman, the founder of Open AI, who believe that generative AI should be used as much as possible to replace the work of human beings (and who seem to place very little value on human life) (Wong 2025).

Finally, evidence shows that use of generative AI decreases the cognitive function of humans, including memory abilities (Kosmyna et al. 2025). Use of AI can also create a social, emotional, and cognitive dependence on a non-human entity that lacks compassion or a conscience (cf. Hou et al. 2024; Pataranutaporn et al. 2025). The long-term health risks of using generative AI use are unclear; however, a long-held tenet of Alzheimer’s research is, “If you don’t use it (your brain), you lose it.” When individuals over-rely on AI chatbots for critical thinking and other tasks that they used to perform with their own brain, they may increase their risk of cognitive decline in the future. We also have concerns about the effects of generative AI on child health and development, which researchers are only just beginning to explore. When asked if AI is making children dumber, Sam Altman answered, “True for some kids,” and his audience laughed. And yet AI companies are beginning to press to have their products installed in schools (where generative AI is already causing issues such as cheating and decreased learning) (Gecker 2025).  

In summary, EBB has significant concerns about the ethics of generative AI use, and we believe that many of our customers may share these concerns.   

EBB Policy on Generative AI Use with EBB Research 

Research is the primary function of EBB. The adoption of generative AI tools would pose risks to the quality of work that the EBB Research Team produces. For example, prompting generative AI to produce an annotated bibliography, a literature review, an article summary, or some other written product would pose a significant risk of AI hallucinations, as well as an output with potentially biased information. Team EBB distinguishes itself within the industry with a focus on evidence-based, non-biased communications on the current research on topics related to childbirth. Hallucinations and bias from generative AI would put the quality and reputation of EBB in jeopardy. 

Furthermore, the adoption of AI tools could erode the trust our audience has in the research team. Throughout EBB’s existence, all research has been conducted by trained academics with many years of study and experience in research and scientific communication. The adoption of generative AI tools would end this legacy.  

Because of these concerns, EBB has decided that there is no acceptable use for generative AI tools within the EBB Research Team.  

Our promise to you is that we will not use any generative AI in the creation or publication of our Signature Articles.  

An emerging issue in research is the use of AI to write peer-reviewed articles that are published in mainstream journals. The research team at EBB will monitor current trends in AI in academic research and stay alert for fraudulent data, errors, and mistakes in journal publications due to use of generative AI. 

EBB Policy on Generative AI Use with EBB Content (Podcast, Design, Social Media) 

EBB has decided there are several acceptable use cases for AI tools that can make the EBB podcast more accessible. These cases are limited to podcast information that will be made available to the public after several humans have reviewed and edited the information for quality and accuracy prior to publication.   

EBB has adopted select AI tools in relation to three tasks related to the EBB podcast: 1) automated transcripts of the podcast conversation, 2) automated podcast translation for closed captions, and 3) generative AI to provide rough drafts of episode descriptions and timestamps of important topics. 

    1. Transcripts of EBB podcast conversations make our content accessible to readers who are deaf or hard of hearing, English language learners, those who speak languages other than English, and those who prefer to read rather than listen. When AI is used to generate a rough draft of an EBB podcast transcript, the text must always be evaluated and edited by a human prior to publication. Note: When EBB podcasts are uploaded to podcast platforms (i.e. Apple, Spotify, etc.), EBB does not control the automated transcripts that appear on the podcast player. These transcripts are generated by the outside company, and we do not edit the end result. If someone would like to view the human-verified transcripts, these are always posted directly on the EBB website.

    2. AI-generated closed caption translation (for example, on YouTube) allows the EBB podcast to reach people who are speak different primary languages. The use of YouTube’s AI tools in this circumstance facilitates accessibility and equity. EBB does not edit these automated translations for accuracy. EBB does not use generative AI to generate voice or audio translations at this time. The only voices you will hear from EBB are our own voices, not generated or altered by AI.

       

       

    3. At this time, the only approved use of generative AI at EBB is a tool to generate podcast timestamps and provide the first rough draft description of the podcast. This information is always evaluated, substantially edited (for content, accuracy, clarity, and tone), and verified by several human team members prior for use in EBB publications. Generative AI is not used to produce any other scripts or content used in the podcast. What you hear on the podcast are real conversations between real humans.  

Team EBB values the work of birth photographers, videographers, graphic designers, copywriters, and other creatives. For this reason, EBB will not use AI to generate images or videos, write social media posts, compose email newsletters, draft webpages, or edit video or photographic content. These tasks will continue to be fulfilled by humans.   

EBB Policy on Generative AI Use with EBB Programs (Pro Membership, Conference, Childbirth Class, Instructor Applications, etc.) 

EBB has not identified any circumstance that would lead to the adoption of AI tools as part of EBB Programs. 

The Programs Team has encountered AI-generated materials submitted to EBB for Instructor and scholarship-related applications. These application materials are of low quality, do not share real thoughts or words from the actual applicant, and often look identical or very similar to other AI-generated applications. Therefore, as of 2026, all applicants to EBB Programs are instructed to use their own thoughts and words when writing their applications. Our promise to you is that all applications will be reviewed by one or more human team members of EBB.  

We also aim to personally respond to all emails sent to us by customers, and we do not use the generative AI features in our customer service platform.   

Customers who attend EBB Programs are not permitted to bring an AI chatbot to meetings or trainings.  

EBB Policy on Generative AI on Hiring at EBB

EBB has not identified any circumstance that would lead to the adoption of AI tools as part of hiring for EBB positions. Applicants to EBB positions are instructed to use their own thoughts and words when writing their applications or attending an interview. All job applications will be screened and reviewed by one or more human team members at EBB. 

EBB Policy on Generative AI use among Individual EBB Team Members 

Data entered into AI platforms is not guaranteed to be secure. Therefore, if EBB employees or contractors use generative AI on their own, they should never input EBB company info into non-approved generative AI platforms (i.e. generating or writing prompts to prepare for customer-facing or internal communications or generating meeting summaries.) Data that cannot be used with an AI tool includes anything that would fall under company privacy protections and anything that is proprietary to EBB. When we use third-party apps for business purposes, we either disable any AI features (if possible) or intentionally avoid using those features.  

In addition to not entering private EBB information into AI platforms or tools, we strongly discourage team members and anyone reading this statement from inputting their own personal medical, pregnancy, or mental health info (or any other information that is private to you or someone else) into AI platforms. AI companies collect data that you enter and may use or sell that data to target you for marketing purposes. The privacy of that personal data is not guaranteed to be 100% secure. For example, your chatbot history could be used against you in a court case, or it could be unexpectedly distributed to outside organizations through a security vulnerability.  

EBB has educated our employees and contractors that, “If you wouldn’t put something on the front page of the internet, you shouldn’t input it into a generative AI platform.” 

We also encourage EBB team members to prioritize their own cognition, creativity, critical analysis, and intuition when performing work functions for EBB. We also value group brainstorming and deliberation sessions with our own human team members. If an employee or contractor uses AI on their own time to generate ideas for EBB-related work, they should disclose to their teammates that these ideas came from AI.  

Any use of AI at EBB should comply with all company policies, including those related to data protection, privacy, and EBB mission, vision, and team culture and values. 

The Bottom Line 

EBB has significant concerns about the ethics of generative AI, including concerns about the potential for inaccurate or misleading information, threats to data privacy and business sustainability, and environmental, humanitarian, and cognitive health concerns. Our main approach has been (and continues to be) generally avoiding the use of generative AI, especially with the research materials that we create for the public. EBB has educated our employees and contractors about the rare cases in which generative AI may be used.  

We have not given permission for AI companies to scrape our materials for use in training AI models (although we believe it is happening without our permission). EBB will continue to monitor generative AI developments so that we can provide updated guidance to our team members that prioritizes accurate information, team member wellness, group deliberation, human creativity, data privacy, and ethics.  

Family creation, including reproduction, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and parenting, are some of the most inherently human experiences on the planet. Our promise to you is that the research work we publish here at Evidence Based Birth® will continue to be made by humans, for humans.  

References 

  • Han, Y., Wu, Z., Li, P., et al. (2024). “The Unpaid Toll: Quantifying and Addressing the Public Health Impact of Data Centers.” arXiv preprint arXiv: 2412.06288. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2412.06288  
  • Kosmyna, N., Hauptmann, E., Yuan, Y. T., et al. (2025). “Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.08872. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872  
  • Pataranutaporn, P., Karny, S., Archiwaranguprok, C., et al. (2025). “My Boyfriend is AI: A Computational Analysis of Human-AI Companionship in Reddit’s AI Community.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.11391.  https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.11391 

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