Two Stanford coworkers have been working on AI tools specifically for journalists since September. They have made prototypes that change how news is reported and read. Picture an AI repackager like a swarm of bees, gathering and changing a single news piece into several formats—quick videos, short summaries, or in-depth investigations—to fit each reader’s time and level of knowledge. This versatility makes it much easier for readers to get involved because it meets a wider range of needs than traditional articles that try to fit everyone. This method means that reporters no longer write linear stories. Instead, they create modular fact and quotation banks that are organized by categories like “expert” or “narrative.” This makes their work easier and gives them more diversity in the information they produce. One of the best things about large language models like GPT-4 is that they are great at summarizing and retelling stories in ways that are still very clear and make sense in the context. But this new idea also makes journalists rethink how they tell stories. It pushes them to build numerous ways for different audiences to get into the same narrative, depending on the format they like most.
AI is changing more than just the way stories are told in journalism; it’s also automating the aspects of reporting and investigation that take a lot of time. The Washington Post’s Heliograf, a very effective “journalist robot,” has proved especially helpful since 2016 for writing pieces full of data during events like the Olympics and elections. AI algorithms may find little patterns and trends in large datasets. For example, the Peruvian investigation tool “Funes” found possible corruption by scanning hundreds of thousands of public contracts. These examples show how well AI can help investigative journalism by letting reporters spend more time on research and storytelling instead of going through data by hand.
By using AI in smart ways, newsrooms can boost productivity and make their work more accessible. AI tools let reporters gather, process, and share information in a way that is very flexible and suited to the audience, just like a swarm of bees works together and moves about. The future looks like a newsroom where human creativity and AI accuracy work together perfectly. This will create a journalistic ecosystem that is not only more responsive, but also very creative in fulfilling the requirements of an audience that is changing quickly.
