The New York Times adopts AI tools in the newsroom
Feb 17, 2025 - theverge.com
The New York Times has approved the use of artificial intelligence tools for various newsroom tasks, including editing, summarizing, coding, and writing. An internal email announced AI training for product and editorial staff, introducing a new tool called Echo for summarizing articles and other activities. New editorial guidelines encourage using AI for suggesting edits, generating summaries, promotional copy, and SEO headlines, while restricting its use for drafting or significantly altering articles, circumventing paywalls, or publishing AI-generated content without labeling. The Times maintains that journalism will remain primarily human-driven, with AI serving as a supplementary tool managed and reviewed by journalists.
Alongside Echo, The Times has approved other AI tools like GitHub Copilot, Google Vertex AI, NotebookLM, ChatExplorer, OpenAI’s non-ChatGPT API, and some Amazon AI products. These developments come amid a legal dispute with OpenAI and Microsoft over alleged unauthorized use of Times content for training ChatGPT. The Times emphasizes that any AI use must begin with fact-checked information and be reviewed by editors, ensuring accountability and adherence to journalistic standards.
Key takeaways:
The New York Times has approved the use of AI tools for editing, summarizing, coding, and writing, with specific guidelines for their use.
AI tools like Echo, GitHub Copilot, Google Vertex AI, and others are being introduced to assist staff, but with restrictions on their application.
The Times emphasizes that journalism will remain human-driven, with AI serving as a supplementary tool under journalist oversight.
The New York Times is involved in a legal dispute with OpenAI and Microsoft over the alleged unauthorized use of its content for training AI models.
