AI Chatbots and News Content Farms: A Dangerous Combination

It was a typical Friday afternoon in newsroom of a reputed media organization when Emma, a junior editor, received an email from her boss. She opened it and her eyes widened in disbelief. The email contained a link to an article that was published on the organization's website - an article that Emma had not written, nor had she assigned anyone to write it. But there it was, a well-written article about the recent surge in cryptocurrency prices, complete with charts, quotes from experts, and an analysis of the market trends.

Emma was confused and turned to her colleague, hoping for an explanation. Her colleague told her that the organization had recently deployed an AI chatbot that could generate news articles on its own. The chatbot had been fed with data and news items related to cryptocurrencies, and it had used this information to write the article.

Emma's mind was racing with questions. How could an AI chatbot replace human journalists? Would it threaten the future of journalism? Could it be trusted to provide accurate and unbiased information?

Emma's experience is not unique. According to a recent report by Bloomberg, dozens of news content farms have been using AI chatbots to generate news articles in a matter of minutes. These chatbots can scrape data from various sources, such as press releases, corporate announcements, and social media, and use natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to create articles that are often indistinguishable from those written by humans.

The use of AI chatbots in news content farms poses a serious threat to the quality and reliability of news articles. While some argue that chatbots can save time and resources for media organizations, others are concerned that the lack of human oversight and editorial judgment can result in inaccuracies, bias, and sensationalism. Moreover, the use of chatbots raises ethical questions about the role of journalists and the responsibility of media organizations towards their readers.

Real-life examples

One of the companies mentioned in the Bloomberg report is Scroll.in, an India-based news website that uses a chatbot called Newsbot to curate and create news articles. According to the website, Newsbot "identifies key stories, monitors and analyses social media conversations, and builds and tells human-like stories in English".

Another company mentioned is Narrative Science, a US-based company that specializes in natural language generation technology. Narrative Science's products can automatically create news articles, financial reports, and marketing content, among others.

However, not all companies that use AI chatbots in news content farms are transparent about their methods. Some use chatbots to create fake news articles that are designed to manipulate public opinions, spread propaganda, or generate traffic for specific websites.

Conclusion

The use of AI chatbots in news content farms is a trend that is unlikely to go away anytime soon. While chatbots can save time and resources for media organizations, they also raise serious questions about the future of journalism and the quality of news articles. To ensure that chatbots are used responsibly and ethically, media organizations should establish clear guidelines and policies for their use, and involve human journalists in the editorial process.