All hail our robot overlords.
I won’t lie – I spent the first year of ChatGPT in a state of dread and denial. The journalism industry is cooked, I told myself. Artificial intelligence is here to take everything that’s good in the world. Time to move to the beach, open a taco bar, and try to enjoy the last dregs of what makes us human.
Then I decided to befriend the machine. Here’s how you can too.
Here's how I'm using artificial intelligence, as a journalist:
1) Updating my source decks
Sample Query: Please generate a list of the ten largest non-profits, based in Turkey, that are working to help refugees. Please include the contact information of their press office.
Rating: C
The bot’s list is pretty accurate, but defaults to larger, mainstream organizations and does not appear to know when they’re no longer operational. It's more of an exercise in covering your bases. A human journalist from any given area could generate something like this with more accuracy and context in just a few minutes. But it does save some time.
2) Generating summaries of stories for social media
Sample Query: [copy/paste an article you wrote] Here is an article I wrote. Could you please draft five sample tweets to promote it. Each one should be fewer than 140 characters in length, and the voice should match the writer of the article.
Rating: B
Chat GPT is quite good at summarizing information, although the writing tends towards the cliché – sounding like a corporate account rather than a human. That’s why I’ll ask it to generate multiple options, and then work off of those for something that feels natural. What you miss out on, however, is the chance to use social media to share those behind-the-scenes bits and extras that never made it into the final draft. In my experience, those thoughts tend to be the most interesting things for your followers.
3) Fact checking
Sample Query: [copy/paste article you wrote] Could you please generate a list of the fact statements made in this article? To the best of your ability, could you verify each one and provide a source for the information?
Rating: D
Chat GPT doesn’t appear to have the capacity yet to automatically look at a script and verify facts – especially ones that do not appear in a quick Google search. What it does have is the ability to look at a script and pull out a list of fact statements, which you can use as a guide for yourself to verify manually, through your notes.
4) Tone policing
Sample Query: Please write a short email to a freelance client who has not paid my last invoice. It is 45 days overdue. The tone should be firm but kind.
Rating: A
A friend does this when she has to write an angry email without sounding too upset. It’s incredibly effective. See results above. 10/10, no notes.
How I DON’T use it
Anything that a listener would reasonably expect to come from a human is sacred.
1) Actual drafts of articles: ALWAYS me.
2) Interview questions, media requests, thank you notes: These are the elements of journalism that make it human and relatable. You aren’t saving any time by automating these – and you risk sounding insincere if you do.
3) Selection of photos and sound: Because I experienced these interviews and events in the real world, I still have a better sense of my story than ChatGPT. It’s up to me to know what’s meaningful, poignant, or surprising.
4) Any final published product in any form. Did you know that if you copy/paste a section of text, enter it into Chat GPT and ask if it wrote it, it’ll tell you? (Chat GPT prefers ‘it’ or ‘they/them’ pronouns, and yes I asked)
5) For the love of god do not use AI-generated art, like Midjourney, in a news context – unless it is CLEARLY labeled and obvious that it’s not depicting an actual event. I do love it for the aesthetics, though.
Here's an audio profile I wrote about Turkish artist Sarp Kerem Yavuz, who uses AI in his work to re-imagine an Ottoman-era, queer revolution. He and had really beautiful things to say about it, take a listen.
Other AI-Supported programs that help me do my job:
1) Google Translate / WhatsApp combo: This is how I write to people when we don’t share a language. And yes, Google Translate is backed by artificial intelligence. Pull up the WhatsApp desktop app on one side of your monitor, Google Translate on the other, and copy-paste away. It doesn’t replace an interview, but it’s a chance to have a one-on-one conversation with someone who you don’t share a language with – and in our field, that’s incredibly valuable. (Always make it clear that you're using a translation program, otherwise someone will call you very excitedly wanting to chat)
2) Trint: The audio journalist’s darling. I’ve gone so far as to upload audio in foreign languages for transcription, so I can find the quote I want to use. (Always check the translation, though – can be wildly inaccurate) Trint is a paid subscription that I have access to through my employer, but free transcription software is available too. More about Trint here: How to make a tape log and why.
3) Muse: An iPhone app that helps you create snappy Instagram videos. It auto-generates collections of photos and videos that were taken together in similar places, or have similar looks. I’ve been using it to create promotional videos for segments I publish, like this one: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9wviPgiiHv/
In short... it's like surviving climate change. Move, adapt, or fail.
My brother works in tech, and likes to compare artificial intelligence to the invention of the tractor. If your job is to dig a ditch, do you want to learn how to drive a backhoe, or do you want to be stuck, standing there with a shovel?
Every time it feels like you’re doing busy work, that’s the moment your brain should click over and say, ‘This is probably something I can automate.’
The more of your job you can automate, the more time you can spend putting the human element into your work, and that's what connects us.
Anyways -- this is what works for me right now. Maybe I'll feel differently later.
But what works for you? Send in a note or share in the comments.
Comments