Using generative AI to co‐design data‐driven stories

Data storytelling combines communication and visualization techniques with storytelling principles to convey insights meaningfully and engagingly. This paper introduces the AI-DIKW framework, an extension of the Story Data–Information–Knowledge–Wisdom (S-DIKW) hierarchy, designed to support the co-creation of data-driven stories by combining human expertise with Generative AI. The AI-DIKW framework extends the S-DIKW model through the application of the journalistic 5-Ws, which guide Generative AI to provide consistent and contextually relevant outputs. This study describes how Generative AI can contribute to the iterative construction of a story's key components while ensuring alignment with ethical principles. Applying Generative AI at the AI-Data stage involves extracting insights from the data. Applying Generative AI at the AI-Information stage means enriching the insight with relevant context, while at the AI-Knowledge stage, Generative AI helps the data storyteller to enrich the story with meaningful next steps, anchored to a selected ethical framework. Finally, at the AI-Wisdom stage, Generative AI helps the data storyteller to tailor the story to specific audiences. At each stage of the AI-DIKW framework, Generative AI acts as a co-designer that helps the data storyteller to frame and edit the story. The article also describes a case study that applies the concepts described practically.