Frequently asked questions

Aila is an AI-powered source interview platform built for journalists. It handles the mechanical work of getting sources on the record — calling them, conducting a structured voice interview, recording the conversation, transcribing every word, and extracting the most newsworthy quotes — so reporters can spend more time on what actually matters: verification, context, and writing. Aila is designed for newsrooms and individual journalists who need more source material than traditional phone rounds allow under deadline pressure.

No. Every part of the process that requires judgment remains with the journalist: who to contact, what questions to ask, how to frame the story, what material to publish, and how to verify what sources say. Aila handles the repetitive mechanics of getting source material — calling, recording, transcribing, initial analysis — but editorial control, source verification, and publication decisions are entirely yours. Think of it as a highly capable research assistant who can run interviews while you write.

Most AI tools for journalists generate synthetic content from existing published material. Aila does the opposite: it helps you gather original, first-hand source information that does not exist anywhere yet. Instead of summarising what has already been written, Aila gets new quotes, on-record statements, and reactions directly from sources — through a real phone call. The output is raw source material, not AI-generated prose.

A journalist defines the story hypothesis and the interview questions they want answered. Aila then contacts the source — either by placing a phone call or by sending an SMS or link for the source to call in — and conducts the structured interview. The conversation is recorded and transcribed in real time. When the call ends, the journalist receives the full audio recording, a verbatim transcript, extracted quotes, an AI-generated analysis of key findings, and optional story draft support based on the material gathered.

Yes, always. Transparency is built into every interview. Aila identifies itself clearly at the start of each conversation, states that the interview is being conducted on behalf of a named journalist or news organisation, and explains that the conversation is being recorded. Sources know what they are consenting to before they answer a single question. There is no deceptive use of AI in the Aila workflow.

Yes. Every interview is recorded and stored with access controlled to the journalist and their organisation workspace. Recordings are linked directly to the transcript and are accessible from the interview dashboard. Aila does not use call recordings to train AI models, and recordings are not shared with third parties outside the infrastructure providers needed to deliver the service.

Yes, always. Journalists receive the full recording and transcript before any story is written or published. Nothing in the Aila workflow publishes or shares interview material automatically. The journalist reviews all source material, decides what to use, and retains full editorial control throughout the process.

After each completed interview you receive: the full audio recording with playback controls; a complete verbatim transcript with timestamps; automatically extracted key quotes and statements; an AI-generated analysis that highlights newsworthy angles, potential contradictions in the source's account, and follow-up questions worth asking; and optional story draft support that synthesises material from multiple interviews into a structured brief with source attribution.

Aila is particularly effective for deadline reporting that requires reaching multiple sources quickly — reaction pieces, expert comments, local accountability stories, and situations where you need a wider range of voices than traditional phone rounds allow. It is also well-suited for structured research interviews, recurring source check-ins across a long investigation, and any workflow where you need more source material than time currently allows you to gather.

Aila is currently best suited for structured reporting workflows where interview questions can be defined in advance. For investigative journalism — where the questions shift dramatically mid-conversation, or where an unexpected disclosure needs to be followed immediately by an experienced interviewer — a human remains essential. That said, Aila is genuinely useful in the research phase of longer investigations: gathering background material from lower-priority sources, or running structured interviews with a large pool of people when you are looking for patterns across many responses.

Yes. Aila currently supports nine languages: English, Norwegian (Bokmål), Norwegian (Nynorsk), Swedish, Danish, German, Spanish, and French. Language detection is automatic — Aila identifies the source's language from the first few sentences and conducts the rest of the interview in that language. No manual configuration or language selection is needed from the journalist. SMS notifications to sources are also sent in the detected language.

No. Aila is a source interview platform that includes transcription as one component of a broader workflow. Unlike transcription tools — which require you to conduct the interview yourself and then upload or import the audio — Aila actively conducts the interview on your behalf, then delivers the transcript as part of a complete source package including analysis and quote extraction. The distinction matters: Aila is not a tool you use after an interview. It is the interview.

Journalists remain responsible for source selection, question design, verification, editorial decisions, and publication. Aila is designed as a reporting assistant with no autonomous editorial role. Interview questions are written by the journalist. The AI analysis is advisory — it surfaces angles and quotes, but makes no decisions about what is newsworthy or what gets published. No material is shared automatically. The tool is built to expand what journalists can do, not to make decisions on their behalf.

No. Aila uses third-party AI services under agreements that explicitly prohibit the use of customer data for model training. Your newsroom's interview content, source transcripts, and story hypotheses are not used to train any public AI model. Source data collected for editorial research is also handled under the GDPR Article 85 press exemption, which provides specific legal protections for journalistic data processing in the EU.

Interview recordings, transcripts, and source data are stored on managed cloud infrastructure accessible only to your account and workspace members. You can delete any interview — including its recording and transcript — directly from your dashboard at any time. Aila does not sell or share personal data with third parties, and does not retain data beyond what is needed to deliver the service.

Yes. Aila has a free plan that includes your first 10 interview minutes at no cost — enough to run two or three real source interviews and see how the workflow fits your reporting process. No credit card is required to start. Open the app, create an account, and run your first interview in under 15 minutes. If your newsroom is interested in a guided onboarding or a team rollout, contact us directly.

Most journalists run their first interview within 15 minutes of creating an account. You write a story hypothesis, Aila suggests interview questions which you can edit freely, and you enter your source's contact details. Aila takes it from there: the source receives an SMS or call, the interview runs, and the transcript lands in your dashboard within minutes of the call ending.

No. Aila is a web-based platform — no software to install, no integrations to configure, no technical onboarding required. Your sources also need nothing: they answer a call or click a link from any phone or browser. The only things you need are a story to work on and a source to reach.