The Associated Press is going all-in on artificial intelligence, and it isn’t alone. It’s part of a necessary pivot to... something... as the 180-year-old wire service sees its classic business model disintegrate in the Internet age. AP on April 6 announced more painful layoffs, with 120+ staffers receiving buyout offers. When critics decry the dominant media as controlled information, this is what they are talking about.
“We’re not a newspaper company and we haven’t been for quite some time,” Julie Pace, executive editor and senior vice president, was quoted as saying in an AP article on the move.
“The news organization is becoming more focused on visual journalism and developing new revenue sources, particularly through companies investing in artificial intelligence, to cope with the economic collapse of many legacy news outlets. Once the lion’s share of AP’s revenue, big newspaper companies now account for 10% of its income,” the news service reports of itself.
It’s another sign that the once-dominant media entity is seeing its formerly formidable influence wane. For decades, that sway came with a not-so-subtle sprinkled-in ideological tilt. As newspapers have declined, so has AP’s ability to spike its on-the-spot coverage from news bureaus around the world with a left-leaning establishment bias.
‘Prefer an AI-Written Article to a Human-Written One’
That old way of doing business may be fading away, but at the Associated Press, the urge to retain its baked-in slant in the age of AI remains.
“Last month, the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s editor wrote that a recent job applicant withdrew from consideration for a reporting fellowship after discovering the position included filing notes to an AI writing tool instead of actually writing stories, touching off a heated debate in media circles,” news site Semafor reported March 3.
The AP’s take on the issue was startlingly blunt and unapologetic, Semafor noted:
“One AP higher-up crystallized many media managers’ views on the debate: ‘Because local newsrooms are so strapped, they are turning for assistance on the news making process in every direction. Advance Publications got there first, others will follow,’ AP Senior Product Manager for AI Aimee Rinehart wrote in internal company Slack messages first shared with Semafor, referring to the Plain Dealer’s parent company. ‘Resistance is futile.’
As the individual responsible for the AP's artificial intelligence projects, Rinehart suggested that reporters will eventually "plug" the information they gather into a large language model, which will then "generate a story." She said this approach will be more efficient, adding that "some editors" have already expressed a preference for articles that have been "pre-written by AI."
“There are many – and I mean MANY – editors who would prefer an AI-written article to a human-written one. Reporting and writing are two different skill sets and rare – RARE – is the occasion when it’s wrapped into one person,’ she wrote.
It’s a machine way of writing, with humans inputting certain material into the assembly line to create a standardized product. This being the case, it’s only fair to ask who is helping to construct that machinery, and what their motivations are in doing so.
“AP is committed to equipping journalists with the knowledge and skills they need to navigate AI’s role in newsrooms,” the Associated Press says on the outsized Artificial Intelligence section of its website. This training program is made possible through “a grant from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.”
Here come the red flags.
Klaus Schwab in Your Automated Media Machine
“A global, 21st-century philanthropy, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation is committed to bridging the frontiers of artificial intelligence, data science, and social impact,” the foundation’s About Us page on its website reads. All the language regularly utilized by globalist funding “philanthropies” is on full display here.
“We aim to create a shared understanding, language, and vision for how these tools can be ethically developed and applied for the greater good. At scale, AI and data can be instrumental in solving the world’s most pressing challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change to health inequities,” the group states.
It’s not hard to see how an international news wire service can help “create a shared understanding” on such controversial issues. The background of the McGovern Foundation is even more disturbing in revealing the powerful network funding AP in its embrace of AI.
“Vilas Dhar is recognized as a leading global expert on the future of artificial intelligence and its role in shaping society,” the bio for the president of the McGovern Foundation states. “As President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, he leads one of the world’s foremost philanthropies committed to demonstrating how data and AI can be harnessed to advance equity, human dignity, and collective progress.”
Dhar is fully plugged in to the globalist progressive establishment.
“Grounded in a conviction that technology must be guided by human values and hope for a more just future, Dhar’s leadership extends across international governance. He has served as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence is the US Government’s nominated expert to the Global Partnership on AI,” his bio continues. “In 2022, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader, honoring his contributions to global dialogue on responsible innovation.”
Klaus Schwab and the United Nations molding the new AI-driven media landscape. How nice.
Set in Stone?
This isn’t merely tangential. It is a determined, carefully connected operation at work.
“In partnership with leading social change organizations, innovators, and fellow philanthropies, our work has spanned the application of these technologies in digital health, climate change, information technology, neuroscience, educating future generations of technologists, and empowering vulnerable communities,” the foundation asserts on its “Our Work” website page.
“And with organizations like the Aspen Institute and NationSwell, we are bringing together today’s technology and social change leaders to understand how AI and data science can be applied to achieve positive social change.”
This is who the Associated Press is taking money from to “train” future journalists on the bold new era of AI-written “journalism.” As Big Tech continues to cement a firm foothold over our everyday lives, the onus is on the private citizen to carefully discern what is useful tool and what is Pavlovian conditioning. When it comes to news and information, this duty becomes paramount to maintaining a truly free society.
