Government Magazine in Australia Turns to AI for Article Writing
Cosmos, the official science magazine of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), is venturing into the realm of AI-written articles.
The national science magazine of Australia is now exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to compose articles, a decision that has stirred up controversy within the publishing and journalism industries.
Under the helm of CSIRO, Cosmos obtained a grant from the Walkley Foundation Meta News Fund to delve into the possibilities and challenges of leveraging AI to craft science-focused narratives.
However, concerns have been raised regarding the ethical implications of utilizing journalism funding for AI advancement, with some uncertainty surrounding the project’s approval.
Last month, Cosmos unveiled six AI-generated stories on diverse topics, developed with funding from Meta, which was earmarked for journalistic endeavors by the Walkley Foundation.
According to a statement by the Walkley Foundation online, Meta allotted up to $2.5 million (US$1.6 million) in funding for its Digital Innovation Fund in 2023, open for journalists and publications to apply for.
The decision to allocate funds towards AI deployment has sparked confusion within the community. Former editors of Cosmos, Ian Connellan and Gail MacCallum, expressed their lack of awareness regarding the AI project’s funding application by the Royal Institute for Australia (RiAus) back in late 2023.
“We had no knowledge of the proposal to employ AI as a background writer-creator,” Connellan noted. “As editor-in-chief, I would have disapproved of this idea.”
Concerns over the potential replacement of reporters by AI have been escalating in Australia, as exemplified by a recent strike by Nine Entertainment Co. employees citing various apprehensions, including insufficient safeguards against AI misuse.
Walkley Foundation Responds
The Walkley Foundation addressed the concerns regarding the allocation of funds for Cosmos’s AI program in an online statement dated Aug. 8.
In the statement, the foundation refuted reports suggesting direct funding of Cosmos for the AI program, emphasizing its “arms-length” administrative structure in managing Meta’s funding for journalists.
Walkley Foundation listed a panel of judges who approved the fund allocation, comprising industry professionals, to ensure adherence to legal and ethical standards.
The foundation admitted concerns from journalists regarding AI usage, particularly where Cosmos’s program relied on previous content created by human contributors.
CSIRO Publishing Responds
A spokesperson from CSIRO Publishing conveyed that Cosmos maintained its commitment to providing accurate scientific information, even as it explores the AI realm.
As part of transitioning Cosmos to CSIRO Publishing, several staff members shifted to CSIRO, with an additional science journalist recruited.
The experimental project aims to assess the utility and risks of using Open AI’s GPT-4 to facilitate the production of science explainers by science communication professionals.
Fact-checking using retrieved data from Cosmos’s past content and scrutiny by trained science communicators ensure the veracity of the AI-generated stories before publication.
