The Los Angeles Times launched a new artificial intelligence-driven “evolution” to its company this week, with billionaire owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong writing in a letter to readers that the newspaper is “beginning a new effort” to offer multiple perspectives on its opinion columns. The AI feature, known as Insights, will not only summarize data and viewpoints from a written column, but also offer online readers real-time counterpoints to that same story at the bottom of the page.

What’s more, the Insights feature will provide readers with an AI assessment of the article’s “viewpoint” — that is, whether or not the writing adheres to a right-leaning, left-leaning or centrist point of view. Insights was developed by the Los Angeles Times in collaboration with AI news summary app Particle and San Francisco-based Perplexity AI.


In just one day of activity, the Insights feature has already run into trouble. Per New York Times tech reporter Ryan Mac, an AI summary of a Feb. 25 article by columnist Gustavo Arellano offered, under its “Different views on the topic” section, a softened perspective on one of America’s longest-running and most notorious white supremacist groups, the Ku Klux Klan, and its long history in Southern California.

Arellano’s article focused on the KKK’s place in Anaheim city politics a century ago. The AI-generated alternate viewpoint downplayed the KKK’s history there, saying that “local historical accounts occasionally frame the 1920s Klan as a product of ‘white Protestant culture’ responding to societal changes rather than an explicitly hate-driven movement.” A screenshot of the summary, taken by Mac, also noted that “critics argue that focusing on past Klan influence distracts from Anaheim’s modern identity as a diverse city.”

  • Pete Hahnloser@beehaw.org
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    3 hours ago

    My former boss, a complete red-pilled dude I met in detox, got into an argument with me a few days ago over text that ended in civil discourse while we ate breakfast together after he picked me up.

    There is still space to interact with those who don’t share your beliefs. The idea that there’s no ground is itself part of the problem.