After backlash due to the use of artificial intelligence in its articles, the news media website CNET released its AI policy detailing where it will and won’t use the tech.
To recall, CNET was lambasted in January after it was revealed that it used AI on some of its stories. The criticism further increased due to the factual errors included in the articles, which the company updated and corrected. Overall, CNET edited half of the 70 articles it released with the aid of its in-house AI system called Responsible AI Machine Partner or RAMP.
Needless to say, the incident greatly impacted the image of the news media website, but it is now ensuring its audience about the future use of AI in its works. In its AI policy, CNET stressed that “none of the stories on CNET have been or will be completely written by an AI.” According to the company, it is also not using or will never use RAMP for its product testing or reviews, as human experts are the ones handling them. However, CNET seems to express the intention of using AI to generate future images. In the latter part of its AI policy page, the company shared that “as of now,” it is not using the tech for such a purpose but added that its “staff photographers and video producers are evaluating approaches and best practices regarding the use of the generative AI to create images and videos.” Moreover, the company didn’t shy away from sharing that it will continuously test AI tools.
In the end, CNET promised to be more transparent in the use of AI in its future stories and works. “On any stories or pages that feature text that originated from our AI tool, we’ll include that information in a disclosure — typically, in a secondary byline at the top of the story,” the policy reads. “On any story that deals substantively with the topic of artificial intelligence, whether or not we used the technology in the creation of that story, we’ll include a disclosure about our organization’s use of AI that links to this page.”
CNET, which is under Red Ventures, is not the only media company exploring the use of AI. Other Red Ventures-owned companies and platforms, such as CreditCards.com and Bankrate, also published AI-aided articles. It is also not a secret that BuzzFeed and Insider are experimenting and using AI in some of their works. However, the increasing rise of generative AI tools raises concerns among writers. Last week, The Washington Post shared the story of two writers who lost their careers after reportedly being replaced by ChatGPT. This issue is also widespread among writers in the film industry. The Writers Guild of America, which started a strike on May 2, and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are among the groups expressing concerns regarding the rise of AI.
