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On Tue, 12 Nov, 8:01 AM UTC
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The Washington Post has an AI newsboy to answer all your questions
Like an interactive AI news anchor for Washington Post reporting The Washington Post has unveiled a new AI chatbot called "Ask The Post AI," which aims to answer user questions accurately by relying on the newspaper's content. The new AI chatbot follows the Climate Answers chatbot, which the publication released earlier this year. Unlike the climate journalism-focused Climate Answers, Ask the Post culls its answers from anything published since 2016. The AI uses algorithmic ranking to match answers to questions and ensure they are relevant. Like Climate Answers, the new AI chatbot enforces strict guardrails on how it responds. If there aren't any articles it defines as worth citing, it won't answer the question at all. That way, it avoids any compulsion by the AI to hallucinate or provide wrong answers. The AI will just say it can't answer at all. "This is the next chapter in building habits for our next generation of users," Washington Post chief technology officer Vineet Khosla explained in a blog post. "The changed search experience across the industry calls for us to meet the moment and meet audiences how, when and where they want to be served with an updated user experience." "Ask The Post AI" arrives as The Washington Post has seen an uptick in interest from readers on its post-2016 coverage. The heightened reader engagement combined with new AI tools might serve to draw in and keep new readers as well. Along with Climate Answers, The Washington Post has been testing several other AI tools, including AI-generated audio recordings of news articles and AI-written summaries of articles. There's an obvious appeal for streamlined information access that supplies reliable answers without long research in the archives. Similar tools will likely crop up at the intersection of AI and news media elsewhere. For instance, Meta and Reuters have partnered to supply Meta AI with information from Reuters articles.
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The Washington Post's AI bot answers your questions now - no subscription required
'Ask The Post AI' delivers conversational responses, cites its sources, and, the newspaper says, is not vulnerable to hallucinating. When generative AI is discussed in relation to newsrooms, one typically thinks of the negatives, such as lawsuits or related issues with copyright, model training, or the threat of replacing reporters. However, some publications are embracing the technology, including The Washington Post, which launched its generative AI tool to optimize users' content consumption. Last week, The Washington Post debuted an experimental generative AI tool called "Ask The Post AI," which allows users to get conversational answers on any topic referenced in text news articles published by the newspaper since 2016. The publication refers to the tools as an initiative "built by news for news." Also: I changed 5 ChatGPT settings and instantly became more productive - here's how The bot displays the results in order of relevant reporting; if none exist, it won't populate anything. Then, a large language model will write a response to answer the question, although sometimes the answer may be pre-written. "The changed search experience across the industry calls for us to meet the moment and meet audiences how, when, and where they want to be served with an updated user experience," said Vineet Khosla, CTO for The Washington Post. In the new feature's FAQ section, The Post also explains that it has minimized the risk of hallucinations by training the AI exclusively on its own articles. Yet, the publication encourages users to cross-reference answers with the articles linked. To get started, visit the site and ask any question, whether news-related or more general, such as "How can I stop junk mail?" Click on one of the pre-populated questions or type in your own question to test it out. I asked, "What is the most populated city in the United States?" The results populated quickly, with two articles referenced, as well as a concise, conversational response that read, "The most populated city in the United States is New York City, with more than 8 million people." Neither the FAQ nor the announcement specifies who can access the tool; however, I was able to get the same results whether or not I was signed into my subscription. I could not click on the articles and read them without a subscription, which makes verifying the answer more challenging.
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The Washington Post introduces "Ask The Post AI," an AI chatbot designed to answer user queries based on the newspaper's content since 2016, marking a significant step in AI integration within journalism.
The Washington Post has introduced a new AI-powered chatbot called "Ask The Post AI," designed to answer user questions by drawing from the newspaper's content published since 2016 12. This innovative tool represents a significant step in the integration of artificial intelligence within the journalism industry.
The AI chatbot utilizes algorithmic ranking to match answers to questions, ensuring relevance and accuracy 1. It enforces strict guardrails on its responses, only providing answers when it can cite relevant articles. If no suitable articles are found, the AI refrains from answering, thus avoiding potential misinformation or hallucinations 12.
"Ask The Post AI" offers several key features:
While users can interact with the AI and receive answers, accessing the full articles cited may still require a subscription 2.
This launch is part of The Washington Post's broader strategy to incorporate AI into its operations. Vineet Khosla, the newspaper's Chief Technology Officer, stated, "This is the next chapter in building habits for our next generation of users" 1. The publication has been experimenting with various AI tools, including:
The introduction of "Ask The Post AI" reflects a growing trend of AI integration in the news media landscape. It aims to provide streamlined information access and reliable answers without requiring extensive research in archives 1. This development could potentially attract and retain new readers, especially given the reported uptick in interest for The Washington Post's post-2016 coverage 1.
The Washington Post is not alone in exploring AI applications in journalism. Other initiatives in the industry include:
As AI continues to evolve, it is likely that more news organizations will develop similar tools to enhance user experience and content accessibility.
Time Inc. introduces an AI-powered chatbot to enhance reader engagement with its Person of the Year feature, marking a significant step in AI application in journalism.
2 Sources
2 Sources
Reddit introduces 'Reddit Answers', an AI-powered search tool designed to provide curated summaries from relevant conversations across the platform, aiming to simplify information discovery for users.
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The New York Times introduces AI tools for its editorial and product staff, sparking discussions about the role of AI in journalism and raising questions about the newspaper's ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI.
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A new study from Columbia's Tow Center for Digital Journalism finds that AI-driven search tools frequently provide incorrect information, with an average error rate of 60% when answering queries about news content.
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A BBC investigation finds that major AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity AI, struggle with accuracy when summarizing news articles, raising concerns about the reliability of AI in news dissemination.
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