AI reporters raise a red flag for journalism

Hi everyone. A local news site is using fake names for its AI-generated stories, offering us a glimpse into a dismal future. But first...Thr [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( [by Ellen Huet]( Hi everyone. A local news site is using fake names for its AI-generated stories, offering us a glimpse into a dismal future. But first... Three things you need to know today: • Reddit reached a deal with OpenAI to [put its content on ChatGPT]( • Applied Materials gave a sales forecast [that failed to excite investors]( • US lawmakers have opened a probe [into Huawei-funded research]( Credibility gap Nina Singh-Hudson’s name sits atop a lot of articles on [Hoodline](, a local news site covering San Francisco. Until recently, there was also a smiling headshot and a bio that said Singh-Hudson was a “long-time writer and a Bay Area native” who writes about “tantalizing tech & bustling business.” This isn’t true. The name is a fake one slapped atop stories generated with artificial intelligence, as are the names of her apparent colleagues at Hoodline SF – Tony Ng, Leticia Ruiz, Eileen Vargas and Eric Tanaka. The AI-generated stories appear to repackage content from other news outlets, press releases and law enforcement bulletins. Hoodline does the same in two dozen cities across the country. Zack Chen, who runs Impress3, the company that owns the site, wrote in a [statement]( in April that stories using AI are published under “pen names” and edited by humans. The only indicator that these bylines aren’t real people is a tiny “AI” icon and a disclaimer linked at the bottom of the site. The “AI” badge appeared on the site around the time that the SF Gazetteer [wrote]( about the fake names. The “author” bios disappeared earlier this year. Hoodline isn’t the only outlet that has tried to fool its audience with fake writers recently — see [Sports Illustrated]( and [CNET](. They won’t be the last, either. It’s degrading trust in an already-chaotic news environment, said Hannah Covington, the senior director of education content at the News Literacy Project. “In trying to use a human-sounding name, they’re trying to game the system and taking advantage of people’s trust,” Covington said. Amid the growing amount of AI content, she said, “it’s important to remind people: Don’t let AI technology undermine your willingness to trust anything you see and hear.” AI can have a useful place in newsrooms. (Bloomberg News runs automated earnings stories with a bright yellow “Bloomberg Automation” label.) “Transparency is key,” said Florent Daudens, the press lead at AI research organization Hugging Face. “The most important currency with readers is trust.” I began my journalism career as a local-news reporter in San Francisco, and seeing fake bylines made my stomach turn, so I called up Chen to hear his take. The conversation did not lift my spirits. Chen, 35, defended the use of fake names by saying his goal is to create “AI personas” that can eventually “grow into having their own following,” maybe even one day becoming a TV anchor. “Each AI persona has a unique style,” Chen said. “Some sort of — this is probably not the right word — personality style to it.” Chen said Hoodline had proactively removed bios and headshots and were already working on adding an AI “badge” to bylines before the Gazetteer wrote about the site. “I get that it was not done perfectly to begin with, but we’re improving it,” he said. He said the site is “profitable” and is hiring journalists. Hoodline’s bylines are AI-generated “randomly,” he said, and the fact that all the bylines on the SF site suggest the authors are people of color wasn’t intentional. Making up authors runs against basic journalistic standards of accuracy and transparency. But Chen said, “I honestly don’t believe what we’re doing goes counter to the value of journalism.” “We are at the forefront of what might become more widespread, whether that’s scary or not,” he added. —[Ellen Huet](mailto:ehuet4@bloomberg.net) The big story The first patient to receive a brain implant from Elon Musk’s Neuralink doesn’t know how he became a celebrity cyborg. Noland Arbaugh [explains how the implant has changed his life](. One to watch [Watch Perplexity Chief Executive Officer Aravind Srinivas interviewed on Bloomberg Television about the AI startup’s search product and new advisory board.]( Get fully charged JD revenue rose faster-than-expected after dangling perks to woo [shoppers in China](. Chip startup Ampere and Qualcomm are teaming up to compete against Nvidia and build computers to [power artificial intelligence workloads.]( The next version of Grand Theft Auto [won’t come until late 2025](. Sony Music warned AI companies to stop [training their models on its artists’ content](. More from Bloomberg Get Bloomberg Tech weeklies in your inbox: - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more - [Screentime]( for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley - [Soundbite]( for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends - [Q&AI]( for answers to all your questions about AI Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. 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