Insider, the news outlet, is now encouraging its reporters, editors, and producers to implement use a generative artificial intelligence tool known as ChatGPT in their newsroom. Global editor-in-chief Nich Carlson expressed his endorsement of the AI technology in a memo sent to staff, highlighting the benefit it can provide across various projects such as brainstorming ideas, researching for assignments, creating headlines as well as preparing for interviews.
In the memo, Carlson expressed his own positive experiences with ChatGPT, mentioning how it provided Alvin Bragg’s indictment and statement of facts in his case against Donald Trump and came up with ideas for video series and trips for the travel reporters. To continue the exploration of ChatGPT’s potential, a pilot group has been formed for experienced reporters, editors, and producers to work with it as a word processing aid.
However, there are certain risks that come with the use of generative AI, and Carlson highlighted these in his memo as well. Generative AI can potentially introduce falsehoods, bias and plagiarism into one’s work, which would be considered a journalistic disaster. In order to avoid such issues, reporters must take precautions by researching the accuracy of final works, verifying their originality and making sure they are proud of everything that they file.
Insider was founded in 2014 and is currently the fastest growing news outlet, providing real time news, information, and entertainment stories focusing on technology, food, money, lifestyles, health and sustainability. The company has over 9 million subscribers and is widely seen as the modern source for news, currently operating in the U.S., UK, India, Australia, and Japan. Nich Carlson, the global editor-in-chief, is a veteran journalist who has 30 years of media and journalism experience and has been recognized as a Knight Fellow from Stanford University and an ONA fellow from both the Google News Lab and the Reynolds Journalism Institute.
