CNET is using AI to write stories

Tech news site CNET began using artificial intelligence to write some stories in November, reports Frank Landymore of Futurism.

Landymore writes, “The articles are published under the unassuming appellation of ‘CNET Money Staff,’ and encompass topics like ‘Should You Break an Early CD for a Better Rate?’ or ‘What is Zelle and How Does It Work?’

“That byline obviously does not paint the full picture, and so your average reader visiting the site likely would have no idea that what they’re reading is AI-generated. It’s only when you click on ‘CNET Money Staff,’ that the actual ‘authorship’ is revealed.

“‘This article was generated using automation technology,’ reads a dropdown description, ‘and thoroughly edited and fact-checked by an editor on our editorial staff.’

“Since the program began, CNET has put out around 73 AI-generated articles. That’s not a whole lot for a site that big, and absent an official announcement of the program, it appears leadership is trying to keep the experiment as lowkey as possible. CNET did not respond to questions about the AI-generated articles.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.