December 11th, 2024

Washington Post Leverages 'AI' to Undermine History and Make Search Less Useful

The Washington Post's new AI assistant has raised concerns over search result quality, basic functionality, and the potential compromise of journalistic integrity, reflecting broader trends in media automation and cost-cutting.

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Washington Post Leverages 'AI' to Undermine History and Make Search Less Useful

The Washington Post has recently implemented a new AI assistant to replace its traditional search technology, which has led to concerns about the quality and relevance of search results. Critics argue that the AI's performance is subpar, failing to provide useful information or sort articles by date, a basic function expected from such technology. This shift is seen as part of a broader trend in media where companies leverage AI to cut costs and reduce human labor, often at the expense of quality journalism. The article highlights a growing skepticism about the motivations behind these technological changes, suggesting that they may undermine historical context and informed discourse. The use of AI in journalism has raised alarms about the potential for creating misleading narratives and erasing important discussions from public view. The piece concludes by questioning the intentions of media executives who prioritize automation over the integrity of their reporting.

- The Washington Post has replaced its traditional search technology with an AI assistant, leading to concerns about search result quality.

- Critics note that the AI fails to perform basic functions, such as sorting articles by date.

- The trend of using AI in media is seen as a cost-cutting measure that compromises journalistic quality.

- There are fears that AI could undermine historical context and informed public discourse.

- The article raises questions about the motivations of media executives in adopting AI technologies.

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By @quantified - 5 months
There is a big difference to using AI to help construct stories and to help deliver them.

The experience being described is on the delivery side. It doesn't shine a light on whether AI was productively used on "editing, digging through court documents, writing structure advice, hunting down patterns missed by human brains, transcription, or searching vast public record archives" to quote the piece.

My take is if Bing, OpenAI, Google and others are going to take whatever-quality journalism and enshittify it for a user, the Post wants to make it less easy for them and be in more control of the enshittified experience. OpenAI is a vampire, feed them enshittified blood. A search bot is becoming more of a threat than a benefit to all news outlets.