One of the biggest newsrooms in the world has just hired a director of AI
They say you canāt teach an old newspaper new tricks, but The Grey Lady wants to get with the times and dabble in AI.
What happened:Ā The New York TimesĀ hired an editorialĀ director of AIĀ initiatives to chart a path forward for using AI in its newsrooms as more media companies experiment with the technology ā a slight change in pace given its approach to AI has been cautious so far.
Big picture:Ā The use of AI by news outlets has been well documented this year ā including Buzzfeed, MSN, andĀ Sports IllustratedĀ ā and usually not for a good reason. Results have been articles plagued with plagiarism, factual inaccuracies, and just plain old poor writing.
- Websites likeĀ CNETĀ andĀ Investing.comĀ have caught serious flack for using AI bots to write articles that had serious errors or ripped off already published articles online.
- Regional US newspaper giant Gannett even ended a pilot where AI covered high school sports after its bot wrote what was maybe the worst sports journalism ever.
Why it matters:Ā While theĀ NYTĀ affirmed that its news will always be reported, written, and edited by humans, the hire is a firm recognition of AIās place in the newsroom. If, arguably, the worldās most influential newspaper gives AI the OK, other newsrooms are sure to follow.
- Meanwhile, some publishers are ready to go all in on AI. GermanyāsĀ Axel SpringerĀ will shut down its news outlet Upday to create an AI-powered “trend news generator.
Big picture:Ā AI will be a big concern for journalists looking to protect their livelihoods come contract negotiation time. Unions repping writers atĀ The AP,Ā TheĀ Wall Street Journal, andĀ The LA TimesĀ have already proposedĀ contract updatesĀ that directly address AI.
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