From BuzzFeed to Buzzkill: A.I. Is Already Stealing Our Writing Jobs
From BuzzFeed to Buzzkill: A.I. Is Already Stealing Our Writing Jobs
When ChatGPT reared its artificial head and took the world (read: Twitter threads) by storm, the cynics among us — myself included — feared it would soon steal our writing jobs. When I asked it that very question, its response was less doom-mongering than I expected:
“While it is unlikely to completely replace human writers, it could put an end to the careers of many writers and change the way written content is produced.” It acknowledged the importance of humans, adding that “ultimately, the role of human writers will still be important in producing unique and original content.”
It seemed an uneasy truce had been formed; our A.I. overlords were happy to co-exist with us.
That truce is on very thin ice.
BuzzFeed — the company best known for its viral quizzes and clickbait — has endured a rough few years. Since it went public via a SPAC in December 2021 (remember those?), its share price has tanked, employees have sued BuzzFeed, and BuzzFeed has countersued its employees. It’s been messy, and the company hasn’t recovered.
So it’s trying something new. early this year, BuzzFeed chief executive Jonah Peretti announced that the company would use A.I. tools to help with content creation. More specifically, it’s planning to use automated technology from OpenAI, the creator of the ChatGPT, to create content for its quizzes. In an internal memo, Peretti said,
“In 2023, you’ll see A.I. inspired content move from an R&D stage to part of our core business, enhancing the quiz experience, informing our brainstorming, and personalizing our content for our audience.”
It means the quizzes that drive BuzzFeed’s traffic — including such classics as Like or Pass on These Pop-Tart Flavors and We’ll Guess Your Relationship Status, What is Your Inner Potato? and Which Possible Illuminati Member Are You? — will soon be partially, or entirely created by A.I.
The timing of the announcement leaves a sour taste, with the news coming swiftly on the back of layoffs. On Dec 6, the company laid off 12% of its staff to “weather an economic downturn that will extend well into 2023.”
The plan to survive those conditions is now in motion: Humans out—robots in.
Shareholders loved the news, and shares soared over 375% at the tail-end of January. (It should be noted that the stock has already returned to the pre-AI announcement price.)
BuzzFeed was not the first company to go public with its use of A.I. tools to produce content. CNET had already been dabbling with pretty poor results. It may even act as an early case study for the potential flaws in producing A.I. content after some of the articles written by its “A.I. journalist” were full of factual errors and apparent plagiarism. Its leadership team admitted using A.I., blamed its editorial team for the mistakes, and announced plans to use it anyway. CNET’s editor-in-chief, Connie Guglielmo, reaffirmed that “trust with our readers is essential.” Ironically, the use of A.I. was never formally announced and only came to light after other media outlets scrutinized the articles.
The problem with BuzzFeed is that it didn’t keep A.I. caged in the quiz creation room. Thanks to some keen-eyed reporting from Futurism, it was discovered that the company has already been using it to write travel guides.
Ironically, when BuzzFeed announced its use of A.I., it said it wanted to avoid being an A.I. content farm, warning that “the content farm model of A.I. will feel very depressing and dystopian." Well, if this collection of 40-plus SEO-bait travel guides is anything to go by, depressing and dystopian are on the menu. Many of the articles include similar phrases, expressions and other last tropes. In sum, it’s pretty bland stuff.
BuzzFeed says they’re “continuing to experiment with A.I. to 'enhance human creativity.’” It appears that it is already a failing experiment.
Mainstream A.I. hasn’t been around long, and two outlets have already taken the plunge. If investors keep backing companies that adopt these tools, and stock prices tick up every time another human is replaced, it’s a formality that, eventually, more will follow. It’s like that old business saying goes, “if you can’t beat them, fire everyone and get the robots in.”
The bigger question is whether this A.I. boom is the 2023 version of the dot com craze or the beginning of a shift in how content is produced.
I think it’s a mix of both.
Much like, say, NFTs, a lot of this initial A.I. technology will not be part of the lasting legacy it has. Things will come and go as the technology integrates itself into society. Investors will throw money at any company or person who mentions the world A.I. in their pitch. There will be lots of pretenders and lots of failures. But ultimately, I believe the technology will integrate itself. To what level and consequences remains to be seen, but many of these tools will become part of our daily lives.
For writers — and the wider media landscape — A.I. could have a positive or negative impact. It could become a companion tool that allows us to delegate the grunt work, speed up research, free up time to elevate our work and spend more time being creative. But, if we remove the rose-tinted glasses and drop the optimism for realism, there is every chance that A.I. will replace vast swathes of us entirely.
The speed at which it has been adopted is scary; the reckless abandon scarier still. Yes, it’s “only” quizzes. I have even scoffed that travel content was “lower bar,” and we shouldn’t worry. But it’s already a step up from quizzes, and soon enough, it will come for articles on all topics. Then long-form content.
Then, it comes for everything.