The New York Times will begin assembling a team to explore the use of generative artificial intelligence in its newsroom. Zach Seward, who was recently hired by the publication to lead its artificial intelligence initiatives, posted on Threads that the team will "focus on prototyping using generative AI and other machine learning techniques to help with reporting and how The Times is presented to readers."
Seward said in the post that the New York Times plans to hire a machine learning engineer, a software engineer, a designer and several editors to complete the artificial intelligence newsroom plan. So far, The New York Times has posted job postings for deputy editorial director of artificial intelligence initiatives and senior design editor.
"The team, led by the editorial director for AI initiatives, will also include colleagues in engineering, research and design and is the 'stooges' team in the newsroom. They will work with other teams across news, product and technology to take the best ideas from prototypes to products," the job listing for deputy editorial director of AI initiatives reads.
In a memo issued after Seward was hired, the Times said that while it was excited to bring artificial intelligence tools to the company, the company firmly believes that "The Times' journalism will always be reported, written and edited by our professional journalists."
The New York Times has had a troubled relationship with providers of generative AI. It was also one of the first news organizations to block OpenAI’s web crawlers from crawling its content. It then filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, the artificial intelligence company and OpenAI's largest investor, accusing ChatGPT of copying its articles verbatim, damaging the publication's relationship with readers and depriving it of revenue. It’s unclear whether The New York Times is partnering with an AI model provider or building its own tool.
Many news organizations are already exploring how (and whether) to introduce artificial intelligence (both generative and "traditional" machine learning) into their newsrooms. Axel Springer, the publisher of Politico and Business Insider, has signed an agreement with OpenAI to share content with the artificial intelligence company and explore how to use artificial intelligence in reporting, and the Associated Press has signed a similar agreement.
Of course, integrating AI into newsrooms is always going to be tricky. So far, it has brought about a proliferation of fake news and reports written by artificial intelligence and impersonating human bylines. However, this experiment may be different. Because the New York Times has made it clear that human reporters will still write the news.