by Joe Siegel

Will the use of artificial intelligence destroy journalism or change it for the better?

An International News Media Association (INMA) blog post by Arthur Marauskas, chief technology officer and co-founder of code.store, noted that AI “has been a transformative force in the world of journalism, but its full potential is still largely untapped.”

“True Artificial Intelligence, or Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), is the ultimate goal — not the current large-language models (LLMs) often erroneously called AI,” Marauskas explained. “That said, I can’t deny the current form of AI is valuable. Sixty-five percent of industry leaders rely on it for content creation, distribution, and personalized recommendations.”

The use of AI in LGBTQ media is becoming more prevalent as revenue shortages prompt editors and publishers to replace writers with the new technology. How AI can — or if it should be — used in the newsroom depends on who you ask.

“We are in fact working through a pilot that utilizes AI in the preparation of selected stories,” said David Foucher, CEO of EDGE Media Network.

“To be clear, our network still uses freelance work and a variety of other sources that are not AI generated, and any AI generated content is put through a fairly rigorous process to weed out hallucinations, etc. Plus our human staff edits, improves and approves all such content,” Foucher noted. “We have always considered ourselves leaders in the publishing technology field for the LGBT/Queer community, and given the rise of these AI platforms, we feel it is quite natural to test their strengths and weaknesses, which is what we’re doing now. However, at the moment I’m unsure that we can draw a causal link between AI and whether or how LGBT/Queer journalism evolves in the near or long-term. The models are still in their infancy, and they have significant shortcomings despite their promise.”

According to Russ White, publisher of QLife Media and QVegas magazine in Las Vegas, the magazine has been using AI content extensively for over 2 years and almost exclusively for well over a year.

“Every article we write and issue we publish now has a component of AI that touches it in some form, from original content to generated content, from editorial to graphics,” White said. “We are developing in-house technologies that automate workflows for us in so many ways. Whether it’s a feature article, space filler, a summarization, pub note, headlines, or even an entire cover image, AI is now an integral part of not only what we publish, but how we publish.”

“Yes, stories can be told without writers. We do it every week now,” White added. “Stories cannot be told without content. Editing and interviewing skills become more important. Knowledge of your subject matter is intrinsic. AI can still get things wrong, and so far it’s only burned us once in over 100 cases.”

Matt Simonette, editor of Chicago-based Windy City Times (WCT), said there has been no discussion of replacing any of their reporters or columnists with AI content.

“Beyond the horrible ethical implications, there are practical implications: AI can’t go report on stuff, or interview people, and its prose is incredibly stilted,” Simonette said.

Simonette noted that WCT does use AI “to generate the 140-character summary ‘meta descriptions’ for Google listings.”

QVegas’ White believes, “AI is our future, but it’s here now. Embracing it and understanding its impact is essential.”

According to Todd Evans, CEO of Rivendell Media and publisher of Press Pass Q, “The most successful LGBTQ media properties have content specifically for the local LGBTQ community. Click bait and ‘Only for Advertising’ sites tend to do very poorly both for the consumer and the advertiser. This is interesting and is something to watch.”

Added WCT’s Simonette, “Journalism is doomed if AI is widely implemented. Outlets won’t be able to have the human interactions that good reporting requires if they depend on AI for content. We’ll just be aggregators.”

Diane Anderson-Minshall, executive director of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, believes AI is “completely upending” journalism.

“In just a short period of time, a great number of websites will shutter. That’s because essentially fewer and fewer people are looking for information outside what AI can tell them,” Anderson-Minshall said. “I feel like EDGE is on a very slippery slope here. There’s an immediate change to the tone and feel of the outlet. There’s a generic feel now. I think as an LGBTQ niche media property, that kind of change can be a real outlet killer unless you really are there for readers in some other way they value.”

But EDGE’s Foucher believes change is necessary for LGBTQ outlets to be able to continue.

“I think any publisher that is not investing their time into exploring these new tools is likely to be left behind,” said Foucher. “Most mainstream publishers I know are already utilizing AI to augment traditional journalism, and given the fact that many of those mainstream publications are now covering our community and competing for the same audience, I would strongly suggest the LGBT/Queer media must adapt if they wish to survive.”

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Volume 27
Issue 7