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The articles on a local news site popping up around the country appear to cover what any community outlet would focus on: crime, local politics, weather and happenings. “In-depth reporting about your home area,” the outlet’s slogan proudly declares.
But a closer look at the bylines populating the local site and a national network of others — Sarah Kim, Jake Rodriguez, Mitch M. Rosenthal — reveals a tiny badge with the words “AI.” These are not real bylines. In fact, the names don’t even belong to real humans. The articles were written with the use of artificial intelligence.
The outlet, Hoodline, is not the first or only news site to harness AI. News organizations across the world are grappling with how to take advantage of the rapidly developing technology, while also not being overrun by it.
But experts warn that relying too heavily on AI could wreck the credibility of news organizations and potentially supercharge the spread of misinformation if not kept in close check. Media companies integrating AI in news publishing have also seen it backfire, resulting in public embarrassments. […]
We, as a society, have developed a high tolerance for fraud. Whether it be in the quality of our food, politics, or as above article illustrates – journalism. Because of the prevalence of fraud, with the underlying dynamics of the social control mechanisms slowly put in place since the Reagan administration, and put on steroids with the so called “patriot act”, we have learned distrust of each other. Note that all of these trends move in one direction – increase corporate profit and control. It is why the population no longer trusts government and major societal institutions. There is a trend under the surface, however, where local people are working together to address their own problems, and in the process re-learn trust and interdependence. For the most part many of these participants have “checked out” from mainstream culture. You won’t see this portrayed in a positive light by mainstream media, but it’s there nonetheless. It represents hope for the future.