Transparency is the foundation of a public facing project. People deserve to see how decisions are made, why they're made, and who is making them. They also deserve ways to have a say themselves. A project that serves the people will give the people a direct way to contribute and to have a say.
The WV Clarity Project is built on the belief that learning and understanding only works when the process itself is open. We are not a media outlet, and we are not here to act as gatekeepers of information. Instead, we are building a resource that helps people learn how to understand their world for themselves, starting in West Virginia, but never limited to it only West Virginia. The services and resources we are creating are intentional curated to be a model that anyone can adapt anywhere. Building an effective resource means purposefully designing the foundation to be scalable.
As this project grows, a small team will guide major decisions. Every significant choice will from what resources we create, to how we operate, to how we engage with communities will be documented and made publicly available. Our goal is to show our work, not hide behind it.
Board decisions will be published in a simple, accessible format so anyone can see what decisions were made, why they were made, what information was considered, and how those decisions impact the community.
We believe that if we expect clarity from others, we must model it ourselves.
Every resource we create whether it's an interview, a guide, or a community tool; is designed to help people make informed decisions. Not decisions we want them to make, but decisions that reflect their own values, experiences, and goals.
Becoming a legitimate and trusted organization means providing what people ask for, and what will help them learn in a meaningful way. We want to hear feedback on how we can deliver to you, and give you resources that help you learn in a meaningful way.
This project begins in West Virginia because this is home, and where are roots are. These are the people and communities we understand most deeply. But the tools we build - the guides, the explanations, the learning resources - are designed to be useful to anyone, anywhere.
Our focus is on West Virginias issues, elevating West Virginians voices, and giving our people resources. But the skills we teach and the resources we create are universal: understanding systems, asking better questions, finding reliable information, and building stronger communities.
At The West Virginia Clarity Project, we strongly and firmly believe that AI should be used for the greater good of humans, and not to serve corporate interests or profits. We stand against the un-ethical uses of AI within the military systems, amongst
an abundance of other un-ethical practices. As a team, we recognize that AI should be handled with care, and not be prioritized over any human experiences. We believe it should be a supplement to our lives to reduce any redundancies. We also do not believe any confidential data should be used to feed into corporate AI, any confidential data we have is strictly handled without AI. In a world that is
pushing centralization of software, surveillance, data, and restrictions on software; we believe one of the only ways to fight this is to utilize AI to build systems that can truly withstand these outside pressures. We utilized it in the beginning as our team was not skilled within created high-end websites/software.
DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT UTILIZE AI TO THINK OF PROJECTS, IDEAS, ART, CONTENT. AS WE GROW OUR TEAM AND INFRASTRUCTURE, WE WILL BE ABLE TO HAVE MORE KNOWLEDGE TO MOVE AWAY FROM SUPPLEMENTING AI, AND ALSO USE MORE LOCAL MODELS TO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE CORPORATE MODELS OF AI, MAKING OUR AI USAGE MORE SUSTAINABLE, AND ETHICAL.
Below is a list of ways we don't use AI, what we have utilized AI for, and how that will change in the future within the project.
1) Website/HTML/CSS/JS Layout:
With a small team and limitied knowledge, building a website can be difficult as the funding or expertise is not there. With the layout and interface needing to be intricate for accessibility, we utilized AI to build this effectively. The prominent example would be the interview page. The creator of the project is learning how to create websites rather than fully depending on AI, and utilizing local models where we can.
2)Interviews and Transcript Summaries:
In the beginning, some transcripts and summaries were created using AI, as we have an abundance of videos and a team very limited on time. We wanted to get the videos out to deliver to the voters. Now, we utilize a local transcription script on Python, so we no longer have to use corporate AI models to make transcripts and separate speakers.
3)Learning Content Proof Reading:
At the start of this project, AI was utilized to create drafts, that we than structured in our own words, adding detail and resources not created or generated by AI. As we learn, the dependency becomes less and less, as this is a growing project and we do not
intend to run in on AI using APIs from corporate models, or run in on AI in general.
We respect your privacy. The WV Clarity Project does not track, sell, or share personal data. Any information you choose to provide (such as through a contact form) is used solely for communication related to this project.
The WV Clarity Project is a non-partisan project. We do not endorse candidates or political parties. All interviews, resources, and educational materials are presented with fairness, transparency, and equal opportunity for all participants.
The WV Clarity Project is committed to making our website accessible and usable for everyone, including people with disabilities. We aim to follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA and continuously improve our site. If you experience any accessibility issues or have suggestions, please fill out our contact form.