According to reports, The New York Times recently announced that it will allow its product and editorial teams to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools, marking an important step forward in the media's technological innovation. This news was conveyed to employees through an internal email, which introduced a newly launched internal AI summarization tool called Echo.
In this email, The New York Times also shared a range of AI products available for employees to use in building web products or developing editorial ideas. At the same time, the newspaper has established relevant editorial guidelines for using AI tools, encouraging the editorial team to utilize these tools for editorial suggestions, brainstorming interview questions, and assisting with research. However, employees were reminded not to use AI to write or significantly modify articles, nor to input confidential source information.
Additionally, the email mentioned that The New York Times may utilize AI to create digitally voiced articles and translate content into other languages. These initiatives aim to enhance work efficiency while ensuring the originality and authenticity of the content.
Regarding technology choices, The New York Times stated that it will approve the use of specific AI programs, including GitHub Copilot for coding, Google’s Vertex AI for product development, NotebookLM, and some Amazon AI products. It will also use OpenAI's non-ChatGPT API through a commercial account.
It is worth noting that while The New York Times embraces AI technology, it is still involved in a legal dispute with OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of using its content to train generative AI without permission, making this transformation initiative particularly complex.
Key Points:
📄 The New York Times allows its product and editorial teams to use AI tools to enhance work efficiency and creative development.
🔍 The newly launched AI summarization tool Echo will assist the editorial team in research and creation, but restricts the use of AI in article writing.
⚖️ The newspaper is pushing for AI applications while facing copyright lawsuits with OpenAI and Microsoft.
