‘We Have to Identify Where We Are Adding Human Value’

Jeremy Caplan, a journalism teacher and newsletter author, on the potential of AI and its limits.

Lately, conversations about the use and abuse of artificial intelligence have dominated the news. There was Nick Lichtenberg, an editor at Fortune, who told the Wall Street Journal that he has used large language models to churn out more than six hundred stories. Then some close readers pointed out that parts of a recent Modern Love column for the New York Times, by Kate Gilgan, appeared to have been generated by AI; Gilgan admitted to using AI “as a collaborative editor.” For a different section of the Times, Alex Preston wrote a book review using AI that was found to have plagiarized a piece in The Guardian (the Times cut ties with Preston, who later apologized). Over at Wired, tech journalists discussed how they use machines in their reporting process.