My editor's note to the newsroom on AI: Let's think of it like a 'bicycle of the mind'

Thu, 04/13/2023 - 12:35

This morning I sent a memo to the Insider newsroom about artificial intelligence and how we, as information gatherers and storytellers, can use it as a tool to become better journalists.

Journalists have a long history of adopting tools for more productivity, better communication, enhanced research, and better writing — an evolution that has encompassed everything from spell-checking word processors on laptops to payphones (and then cellphones and then smartphones) to search engines to social media.

Artificial intelligence promises to be a tool at least as powerful as all of those. To do our very best for you, our newsroom is going to have to learn how to use it. But we are going to have to learn how to use it carefully. We will.