There’s a significant amount to unpack regarding AI’s role in journalism, and much of it leans negatively. An informed reader should not limit themselves to a singular perspective but instead explore various viewpoints.

Recently, the Los Angeles Times has implemented AI-generated ‘Insights’ at the beginning and end of its opinion articles. These Insights, powered by Perplexity AI, include an analysis of the political bias of the piece and a bullet-point summary aimed at presenting different viewpoints.

This feature was introduced on March 3 and its efficacy is still being assessed; however, the political alignment analysis has only been applied to opinion articles thus far. Critics, including commentary by Patrick Soon-Shiong, who leads the publication, expressed that consolidation of news and opinion results in an echo chamber.

One instance involves a contentious opinion about immigration enforcement, characterized by a back-and-forth between stances. While one opinion is straightforward regarding its perspective, the AI-generated summary appears neutral to the point of being vague.

The concern arises that presenting such AI interpretations alongside human-written opinions may inadvertently suggest that views hold equal validity, which is an inherently problematic notion concerning journalistic standards.

In summary, this AI involvement in opinion journalism requires careful scrutiny. The editorial staff explicitly stated they do not curate the AI content, raising further questions about accountability in journalism.