Good morning from Chris. For those of you in the UK, hope you’re enjoying your Bank Holiday!


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ChatGPT is making up fake Guardian articles. Here’s how it’s responding

ChatGPT is making up fake Guardian articles. Here’s how we’re responding | Chris Moran

The risks inherent in the technology, plus the speed of its take-up, demonstrate why it’s so vital that we keep track of it, writes the Guardian’s head of editorial innovation, …

 

The crunch is upon us. There have been tools that mock up fake news articles for many years, but it’s all been supercharged by generative AI tools like ChatGPT. Even if you believe the threat is overblown, you have to admit that it would be the height of hubris to not consider how newspapers should respond. So it’s great to see this really well-argued piece from the Guardian’s head of editorial innovation Chris Moran.

He states the Guardian is approaching use of AI cautiously: “Instead, we’ve created a working group and small engineering team to focus on learning about the technology, considering the public policy and IP questions around it, listening to academics and practitioners, talking to other organisations, consulting and training our staff, and exploring safely and responsibly how the technology performs when applied to journalistic use.”

That’s a robust response to a threat — and also potentially provides the Guardian with a point of differentiation from other news outlets that are rushing into the space. There are trust issues to consider here, and at the moment newspapers can ill afford to score any more own goals in that respect.


How to spot AI-generated images

How to spot AI-generated images – Full Fact

Full Fact’s guide on how to spot images created using Artificial Intelligence.

 

And speaking of AI, here’s a practical guide from Full Fact as to how to go about spotting images ginned up by tools like Midjourney. It’s a great start and ideally will increase the overall media literacy of the public, who are about to face a new wave of absolute bullshit whenever they go online. But as I argued last week, explaining the how isn’t going to be enough —  we need reporters who are explaining why these images are being made.


Did media learn nothing from 2016?

Did Media Learn Nothing From 2016?

The wall-to-wall coverage of Trump’s arraignment shows how quickly the lessons of his election have been forgotten.

 

For once, Betteridge’s Law might have been broken. This extremely, extremely depressing piece contends that the media’s obligation to protect and inform the public has run up against the need for ratings and revenue — and that the latter is winning. We spoke at length last year about whether news outlets would change their behaviour when it comes to covering Trump. I suppose we’re about to find out.


Twitter could be facing slew of fines in Germany over hate speech

Twitter could be facing slew of fines in Germany over illegal hate speech

Elon Musk’s Twitter could be on the hook for a pipeline of multi-million dollar penalties for failing to take down illegal hate speech in Germany.

 

Apologies again for foisting a Musk header image on you in the morning, but this time it’s good news… sort of. Germany has very clearly delineated rules against hate speech on social platforms, and Twitter appears to have been breaching them endlessly following Musk’s takeover as its CEO. As with the many, many other fines it’s facing, it might well be that Elon finally learns there are consequences to his actions.


More from Media Voices

Listen again: Word in Black COO Andrew Ramsammy on news collaboratives

Word in Black COO Andrew Ramsammy on news collaboratives

Andrew Ramsammy discusses how the Word in Black collaborative came together, how they’ve tripled revenue since launching, and more.

 

In February we heard from Andrew Ramsammy, Chief Operating Officer of Word in Black. The publication was founded in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, and brings together 10 of the nation’s leading Black publishers in a news collaborative. He discusses how the collaborative came together, how they’ve tripled revenue since launching, and other areas of opportunity for publishers to come together.

The inaugural Publisher Newsletter Awards are open for entries

The Publisher Newsletter Awards, run by the Media Voices team, has opened entries for the inaugural year of the awards.

 

Report: Practical AI for Local Media

Find out how AI can help publishers take care of work that humans can’t so they can use the time saved to creating valuable commentary and analysis.

 

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Become a supporter of The Media Voices Team today! ❤️ Ko-fi lets you support the creators you love with no fees on donations.

 

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