AI has reportedly left its mark on the prestigious Pulitzer Prizes for journalism, with five finalists incorporating the technology in their potentially award-winning submissions.
NiemenLab reports that the integration of AI in journalism has reached new heights, as evidenced by the recent disclosure that five out of the 45 finalists for this year’s Pulitzer Prizes in journalism utilized AI tools in the process of researching, reporting, or presenting their entries. This revelation comes from Pulitzer Prize administrator Marjorie Miller, who noted that the 2024 competition marked the first time entrants were required to disclose their use of AI.
OpenAI logo seen on screen with ChatGPT website displayed on mobile seen in this illustration in Brussels, Belgium, on December 12, 2022. (Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The Pulitzer Board’s decision to mandate AI disclosure stemmed from the rapid rise of generative AI and machine learning tools in recent years. With around 1,200 submissions received this year, the board recognized the need to understand the potential impact of these technologies on the journalism industry.
Miller, who sits on the 18-person Pulitzer board, revealed that discussions about AI policies began early last year, driven by a desire to comprehend both the capabilities and potential risks associated with these emerging tools. In July 2022, the board received a comprehensive briefing on AI from industry experts, including Mark Hansen, director of the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia Journalism School.
Hansen and his colleagues provided the board with a broad overview of AI’s applications in newsrooms, ranging from data analysis and web scraping to the use of large language models. Crucially, the discussions also delved into critical issues surrounding AI, such as copyright law, data privacy, and the potential for bias in machine learning models.
While the Pulitzer Board has taken an exploratory approach, allowing the use of AI and avoiding any restrictions, the decision to disclose AI usage in submissions has provided valuable insights into the technology’s growing influence on journalism. As Miller noted, the board views this as an opportunity to “sample the creativity that journalists are bringing to generative AI, even in these early days.”
Read more at NiemanLab here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
