Data storytellers gave AI tasks, not the final say
AI can help make charts and stories without choosing the point for the author. In interviews with 12 experts, storytellers described handing off some making tasks while keeping the story plan and final meaning in human hands. They also spent more effort checking the output. The study does not prove that readers understood more.
What the source reports
The authors spoke with 12 experts who tell stories with charts and data. They asked how the experts use AI tools that work with language. The storytellers gave some tasks to AI but kept control of the point and its meaning. When they set limits first, their effort could shift from making material to checking it. Faster work does not mean a tool should decide the message. The evidence comes from interviews with experts about their habits. It does not measure whether readers understood the final work better. It also does not show that new creators would use the same limits.
Original source
- Title
- Harnessing LLMs Without Surrendering Control: Delegation Boundaries in Visual Data Storytelling Authoring
- Author
- Zhuojun Jiang, Yuki Ueno, Chris Bryan
- Publication
- arXiv
- Date
- Wednesday, September 23, 2026
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