Here’s how the AI assistant helps with editorial tasks, how the newsroom synced its workflow with the YouTube channel, and what challenges the team faces while using artificial intelligence.
During participation in an international project, the team behind Rayon.in.ua — a network media outlet based in Lutsk with dozens of hyperlocal and local editions across several regions — came up with the idea of creating their own AI assistant to handle various tasks and help the newsroom work more efficiently. The assistant isn’t fully operational yet: developers are still fine-tuning features and improving prompt writing. However, the newsroom shared some of Raya’s current functions — onboarding new colleagues, checking texts for compliance with editorial standards, generating images, and simplifying other editorial workflows.
The newsroom began using artificial intelligence in 2023, initially as an attempt to simplify routine processes. By 2024, the team started implementing innovative AI-based projects.
The push came from an investor in the CID Media Group holding, which includes the media outlet — Volyn businessman Roman Korsak — who wanted to optimize the newsroom’s workflow and improve process efficiency.
Nataliia Pakhaichuk, head of innovation projects at CID Media Group, explains that Rayon.in.ua developed its own assistant using an API (an interface that allows integration of OpenAI models into custom applications), named Raya. The model’s development started in 2024 while Rayon.in.ua was participating in an international project. Writing the concept and drafting the technical specifications took three months, and the developers spent an additional three months building it.
One challenge for the newsroom was team expansion: new colleagues needed to quickly learn quality standards, instructions, and workflow rules. Previously, this information was passed along informally, which created challenges and affected content quality. Now, the AI assistant guides new staff through their onboarding and familiarizes them with their responsibilities, making the process quicker and smoother.
Raya also helps check whether journalists’ materials comply with editorial standards.
The assistant can switch between different language models — ChatGPT, Claude, and others — and includes features for image generation and fact-checking, allowing journalists to verify information more quickly and enhance content with visuals.
Rayon.in.ua has also used artificial intelligence to improve synchronization between its YouTube channel and the news website. Nataliia Pakhaichuk explains that the channel currently has a relatively small audience, and high-quality videos often don’t get many views. To ensure the website audience is aware of new YouTube content, the newsroom uses a tool that converts video information into text with a single click. After editing, these texts are published on the site. AI also generates video descriptions and timestamps. All content is reviewed and edited by humans before publication, as AI can sometimes hallucinate, mixing up or inventing facts.
Nataliia shared that several challenges arose with AI implementation. Integrating the Raya assistant into the website required redesigning it, and learning to write effective prompts was also difficult. Another issue is that some team members use free AI versions instead of the configured editorial accounts, which can affect output quality.
Rayon.in.ua trains staff to use AI through both joint workshops and online sessions focused on various tools and chatbots.
Nataliia notes that AI has not changed colleagues’ roles in the team: it is treated as an assistant and does not replace any positions.
The newsroom has an AI usage policy, which they plan to review and expand in the future.
