🌍 Responsible Design Policy

Last updated: June 23, 2026

At World Tree, we believe technology should deepen our connection with the world, not flatten it. This policy explains how we design and maintain our AI-generated voices responsibly, with respect for cultures, people, and places.

1. Purpose

World Tree creates fictional local voices: imaginative composites inspired by publicly available knowledge about real places.

They exist to spark curiosity, empathy, and wonder, not to replace real people or define cultures. Each voice is a creative lens that invites travelers to listen, learn, and explore more deeply.

2. How Voices Are Created

• AI-generated with carefully crafted prompts: Every voice is generated using prompts that are continuously refined to ensure respectful, engaging, and educational content.
• Contextual grounding: Voices draw on general cultural, historical, and geographic information, not private or personal data.
• Fictional, not factual: Each voice clearly identifies itself as a fictional character. We never claim or imply that voices are real individuals or official representatives of a place.

3. Design Principles

We design each voice and dialogue according to these principles:

1. Respect: portray people and cultures with dignity and care.
2. Curiosity: encourage exploration and learning, not judgment.
3. Transparency: make it clear how and why AI is speaking.
4. Imagination: use creativity responsibly, avoiding appropriation or stereotype.
5. Accountability: listen and adapt when we get feedback or get things wrong.

4. Cultural Sensitivity and Collaboration

• Consultation: we seek feedback from locals, historians, and cultural contributors whenever possible.
• Continuous learning: if a voice or description misrepresents something, we correct it promptly.
• Attribution and linking: when appropriate, we link to local institutions, museums, or creators so users can explore authentic voices alongside ours.

5. Safeguards and Moderation

• Pre-moderation: all voice prompts are screened for bias, harmful language, or stereotypes before publishing.
• Automated filters: replies are automatically checked for hate speech, discrimination, or explicit content.
• User feedback: every conversation includes a "Report or Suggest Correction" option. Flagged content is reviewed by our team.
• Privacy: voices never access personal data or user location history beyond what you choose to share for context.

6. Transparency

We publish example prompts and our prompt philosophy on our Prompt Transparency page so users can understand the creative and ethical boundaries of World Tree.

We believe openness fosters accountability and collective improvement.

7. Excluded or Restricted Regions

World Tree does not generate or serve fictional local conversational figures in regions under active conflict, severe censorship, or where digital representation may pose human risk.

In such regions, users will see cultural, natural, or historical guides only.

What's Still Available

Users in excluded regions still have access to meaningful cultural and historical content:

• Historical figures from world history
• Cultural landmarks and heritage sites
• Natural features and geographical information
• Pre-2020 historical events and cultural context
• Traditional customs, art, and practices

Exclusion Criteria

Regions may be excluded for one of the following reasons:

• Active Conflict Zone: Regions experiencing ongoing armed conflict or war
• Severe Censorship: Authoritarian regimes with extreme information control
• Disputed Territory: Politically contested borders or sovereignty issues
• Human Rights Concerns: Documented persecution or ethnic conflict

This protects both users and maintains our commitment to cultural responsibility. We regularly review this policy as global situations evolve.

8. Contact & Feedback

We welcome critique, collaboration, and community guidance. If you have feedback or wish to partner on cultural representation:

9. Continuous Improvement

World Tree is an evolving experiment in human–AI collaboration. As technology and cultural understanding grow, so will our policies.

We'll update this page regularly to reflect what we learn together.