After CNET, BuzzFeed tests AI

Last month BuzzFeed laid off 12 percent of its workforce amid an economic downturn. This year, the digital media publisher plans to use OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool to help produce content and enhance quizzes, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

CEO Jonah Peretti said in an email to staff:

“The creative process will increasingly become AI-assisted and technology-enabled. If the past 15 years of the internet have been defined by algorithmic feeds that curate and recommend content, the next 15 years will be defined by AI and data helping create, personalize and animate the content itself.”

In saying that humans will still be at the helm, Peretti added:

“To be clear, we see the breakthroughs in AI opening up a new era of creativity that will allow humans to harness creativity in new ways with endless opportunities and applications for good. In publishing, AI can benefit both content creators and audiences, inspiring new ideas and inviting audience members to co-create personalized content.”