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>Multiple companies have toyed with the idea of using AI to generate stories, all of whom have been widely panned for the decision. G/O Media (which operates Gi

>Multiple companies have toyed with the idea of using AI to generate stories, all of whom have been widely panned for the decision. G/O Media (which operates Gizmodo and Kotaku) attempted it earlier this year, the result of which was error-riddled pieces and widespread pushback from its staff. The company plans to move forward with AI authors despite this. Gannett, which operates USA Today, also attempted it but pulled back after it resulted in “botched” coverage of high school sports. More recently, Sports Illustrated was accused of the practice, a decision that resulted in widespread derision and the firing of its CEO. all that matters is attracting $USER to $PLATFORM at a rate which minimizes $COST_OF_CONTENT_PRODUCTION to a point where it is below $INCOME_PER_USER. none of these "news outlets" have any integrity, they might back off of AI but they've already demonstrated that they'll publish anything that drives viewership. This also calls into question the legitimacy of human-written content published by these "news outlets" because whatever ideals journalism may have aspired to in the past no longer exist (if they ever even existed in the past).

philwelch 3y ago
> whatever ideals journalism may have aspired to in the past no longer exist (if they ever even existed in the past) This is when I like to remind people that if you do a good enough job at journalism, you get an award named after a pioneer of sensationalistic “yellow journalism” who propagandized to start the Spanish-American War: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pulitzer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pulitzer
- cjbgkagh 3y ago
  I had no idea "yellow journalism" and the Pulitzer Prize were linked in that way, thanks for that piece of information.
- nebula8804 3y ago
  Don't forget about the Nobel Peace Prize named after Alfred Nobel: The inventor of dynamite. [1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel From the link: "There is a well known story about the origin of the Nobel Prize, although historians have been unable to verify it and some dismiss the story as a myth. In 1888, the death of his brother Ludvig supposedly caused several newspapers to publish obituaries of Alfred in error. One French newspaper condemned him for his invention of military explosives—in many versions of the story, dynamite is quoted, although this was mainly used for civilian applications—and this is said to have brought about his decision to leave a better legacy after his death. The obituary stated, Le marchand de la mort est mort ("The merchant of death is dead"), and went on to say, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." Nobel read the obituary and was appalled at the idea that he would be remembered in this way. His decision to posthumously donate the majority of his wealth to found the Nobel Prize has been credited to him wanting to leave behind a better legacy. However, it has been questioned whether or not the obituary in question actually existed."
  - philwelch 3y ago
    To be fair to Nobel, dynamite has plenty of peaceful engineering applications, and its invention did represent an important innovation. If this story is true, it probably says more about the nature of journalism than the nature of dynamite.
- notavalleyman 3y ago
  > like to remind people Is this phrase used figuratively, or are there actual times when you've exercised this preference upon someone? I think if you said that to me, in a tone which implied you were enjoying saying it, I'd probably ask you why it's relevant. For example, can you demonstrate that Pulitzer Prizes are generally awarded to "yellow journalists"? Or can you show how the recipients of the prize are in any way awarded for behaviour which you're saying Pulitzer the person exhibited. Because it just sounds like a quirk of history, rather than revealing any important facts about journalism or how prizes are awarded
  - imacomputertoo 3y ago
    Thank you! I was just watching Oppenheimer yesterday, and cringed at the part where he points out that Alfred Nobel invited dynamite as a reason he might get the award for the A bomb. It's a silly idea. As you put it, it's a quirk of history. Interesting, but not relevant.
  - philwelch 3y ago
    The Pulitzer Prize is supposed to be awarded to journalists whose work is actually good for society in some way, rather than simply churning out sensationalist content for crass commercial or ulterior political motives, and yet it's named after someone whose entire career was driven by the exact opposite motivations. It's funny, much like it would be funny to name a human rights award after Idi Amin. And it answers the implied question I quoted at the beginning of the post--that the "ideals" that journalism "may have aspired to in the past" did not, in fact, exist.
vasco 3y ago
If websites do this too much they'll just disappear. Why go to the website if I can get the answer from an LLM. The same way most simple apps will probably not be needed if the Operating System can just conjure them on the fly. "Give me a calculator app that includes a button for conversion to ternary" Is the same as "Give me an app that every day will send me an expert article about Photography topics, keeping it varied so I learn about many aspects". If something can be produced very cheaply by a website owner it can also be produced by the user for their own consumption.

philwelch 3y ago

> whatever ideals journalism may have aspired to in the past no longer exist (if they ever even existed in the past) This is when I like to remind people that if you do a good enough job at journalism, you get an award named after a pioneer of sensationalistic “yellow journalism” who propagandized to start the Spanish-American War: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pulitzer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pulitzer

cjbgkagh 3y ago
I had no idea "yellow journalism" and the Pulitzer Prize were linked in that way, thanks for that piece of information.
nebula8804 3y ago
Don't forget about the Nobel Peace Prize named after Alfred Nobel: The inventor of dynamite. [1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel From the link: "There is a well known story about the origin of the Nobel Prize, although historians have been unable to verify it and some dismiss the story as a myth. In 1888, the death of his brother Ludvig supposedly caused several newspapers to publish obituaries of Alfred in error. One French newspaper condemned him for his invention of military explosives—in many versions of the story, dynamite is quoted, although this was mainly used for civilian applications—and this is said to have brought about his decision to leave a better legacy after his death. The obituary stated, Le marchand de la mort est mort ("The merchant of death is dead"), and went on to say, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." Nobel read the obituary and was appalled at the idea that he would be remembered in this way. His decision to posthumously donate the majority of his wealth to found the Nobel Prize has been credited to him wanting to leave behind a better legacy. However, it has been questioned whether or not the obituary in question actually existed."
- philwelch 3y ago
  To be fair to Nobel, dynamite has plenty of peaceful engineering applications, and its invention did represent an important innovation. If this story is true, it probably says more about the nature of journalism than the nature of dynamite.
notavalleyman 3y ago
> like to remind people Is this phrase used figuratively, or are there actual times when you've exercised this preference upon someone? I think if you said that to me, in a tone which implied you were enjoying saying it, I'd probably ask you why it's relevant. For example, can you demonstrate that Pulitzer Prizes are generally awarded to "yellow journalists"? Or can you show how the recipients of the prize are in any way awarded for behaviour which you're saying Pulitzer the person exhibited. Because it just sounds like a quirk of history, rather than revealing any important facts about journalism or how prizes are awarded
- imacomputertoo 3y ago
  Thank you! I was just watching Oppenheimer yesterday, and cringed at the part where he points out that Alfred Nobel invited dynamite as a reason he might get the award for the A bomb. It's a silly idea. As you put it, it's a quirk of history. Interesting, but not relevant.
- philwelch 3y ago
  The Pulitzer Prize is supposed to be awarded to journalists whose work is actually good for society in some way, rather than simply churning out sensationalist content for crass commercial or ulterior political motives, and yet it's named after someone whose entire career was driven by the exact opposite motivations. It's funny, much like it would be funny to name a human rights award after Idi Amin. And it answers the implied question I quoted at the beginning of the post--that the "ideals" that journalism "may have aspired to in the past" did not, in fact, exist.

vasco 3y ago

If websites do this too much they'll just disappear. Why go to the website if I can get the answer from an LLM. The same way most simple apps will probably not be needed if the Operating System can just conjure them on the fly. "Give me a calculator app that includes a button for conversion to ternary" Is the same as "Give me an app that every day will send me an expert article about Photography topics, keeping it varied so I learn about many aspects". If something can be produced very cheaply by a website owner it can also be produced by the user for their own consumption.