Artificial Intelligence In Newsroom: Embracing Technology Amid Journalistic Concerns

The New York Times Company NYT has reportedly appointed Zach Seward, the editorial director of artificial intelligence initiatives at Quartz.

Co-founder Seward is tasked to establish principles for "how we do and do not use generative A.I.," WSJ noted, citing Executive Editor Joe Kahn and Deputy Managing Editor Sam Dolnick.

At Quartz, Seward has served as chief product officer, editor-in-chief, and CEO. He has also worked at The Wall Street Journal. 

Seward's role will involve collaborating with the newsroom leadership to establish guidelines on AI usage.

Expected to build a small team, Seward will experiment with AI tools, prototype ideas, and help devise AI training programs for journalists.

Journalists and news organizations are cautiously exploring AI tools' potential to streamline news content creation, such as automating publishing, drafting articles, and generating headlines, the Wall Street Journal noted.

However, concerns persist within the industry about compromising journalistic quality and skepticism regarding AI's impact on jobs across various sectors.

The integration of AI in newsrooms poses ethical and business challenges. Companies like OpenAI, Microsoft Corp MSFT, and Alphabet Inc's GOOG GOOGL Google use vast internet data to train AI models, prompting concerns among news outlets about the use of their content without compensation.

The New York Times has initiated internal discussions on AI tool experimentation, allowing staff to explore ways to enhance efficiency in their work, like generating headlines or analyzing data.

Price Action: NYT shares are up 0.11% at $46.57 on the last check Tuesday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.