Insider updates its newsroom with AI

The Future. Insider is experimenting with ways to use generative AI in every facet of its newsroom, with a team of veteran journalists leading the way in creating a best practices framework. If AI does become part of the workflow, it has the potential to displace lower-level editorial staff and put extra emphasis on the role of editors.

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According to its global editor-in-chief Nicholas Carlson, Insider wants to be ahead of the curve in incorporating AI into its journalism.

• The publisher has set up a working group of “very experienced, seasoned journalists” to start experimenting with ways generative AI could responsibly be used in the newsroom.
• That includes using AI-written text in pieces, generating outlines, fixing typos, crafting headlines that are SEO friendly, and even helping come up with interview questions.
• Carlson didn’t rule out that one day full stories may be written by AI… but they’ll need to be fully vetted by a human editor.

Unlike BuzzFeed, which is also testing using generative AI to write stories, Carlson said that Insider wouldn’t disclose if AI has been used to write an article — it will only list a blanket policy about AI on its editorial policies page.

Sorry, no “Buzzy the Robot” for Insider. We’ll see how the greater journalism industry feels about that.