The genuine article?

The website claims that modern machine learning algorithms and natural language processing software fuel the channel, allowing it to scan relevant news sources worldwide in real time. 

By analyzing and deciphering data from various sources, including social media, news websites, and governmental organizations, NewsGPT's AI algorithms enable the channel to give viewers the most recent news and information on various subjects.

Unlike other news outlets, NewsGPT says it is unaffected by sponsors, political allegiances, or the viewers' individual viewpoints. Its main goal is to give viewers accurate and trustworthy news every day of the week.

But the problem here (or rather the potential problem) is that AI does have the power to influence the news, which means it also has the power to shift world politics. Which, in turn, could completely change how we see the world… right? 

Well sort of, according to James Coop, co-founder of JedAI Studio, a company that exists to make AI more usable and useful for businesses of all sizes. He says: “The dormant problem here is that AI can be manipulated with enough focused data points. We’ve already seen that with Bing, which uses ChatGPT’s model but not its data – with fewer data points it is becoming more opinionated.”

But, he adds, the danger doesn’t end there: “Manipulative marketing strategies have existed for a long time, but this is (potentially) manipulated news. Depending on the data sets the channel has access to, and the people in charge of it, the news could very easily be exploited or skewed toward any given bias. 

“How are users going to be convinced of the fact that this is ‘unbiased reporting’? It is as open to manipulation as any other news outlet. That being said, it is totally capable of doing exactly what it says on the tin – AI absolutely has that power – but its creators would need to find a clear, straightforward, transparent way to show that to users, without which it won’t stand up to scrutiny.”

How it works

The NewsGPT announcement doesn't specify whether the company is using OpenAI's GPT technology to produce the news or some other AI tech.

The name NewsGPT seems to suggest it might be using a version of OpenAI's GPT — the Large Language Model (LLM) that powers OpenAI's viral ChatGPT chatbot — but this isn’t actually disclosed anywhere. 

So, I asked them. And they said they're using a "combination of AI programs." 

…Which doesn't really answer the question. 

NewsGPT's AI algorithms are able to analyze and interpret data from a wide range of sources, including social media, news websites, and government agencies. This allows the channel to provide viewers with the latest news and information on a wide range of topics, from politics and economics to science and technology.

It says: “Unlike other news channels, the news on NewsGPT is not influenced by advertisers, political affiliations, or personal opinions. Its sole focus is on providing viewers with accurate and reliable news, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

“We believe that everyone deserves access to unbiased and fact-based news,” adds CEO Alan Levy.“With NewsGPT, we are making that a reality.”

NewsGPT is available free at newsgpt.ai.

Hallucinations

NewsGPT has said that machine hallucinations "might" happen. But they aren’t under the impression that this is a big deal. 

I’ll leave you to decide whether that makes for “unbiased news” …or in fact not. 

AI-powered news 

The concept of AI-powered news content is not new; other major U.S.-based news organizations have already talked about their use of OpenAI's ChatGPT technology. 

Among them is BuzzFeed, an online media company, which leverages OpenAI's ChatGPT to assist with content creation. The company says it used humans to curate the content created by AI.

Similarly, in January, CEO Jonah Peretti predicted that AI would become a more significant part of BuzzFeed's operations in a memo sent to the company's employees. 

He said the company is "leveraging" the technology to go beyond curating and support the creation of personality quizzes that pose questions to users and provide text summaries based on their answers.

And also in a similar vein, an article developed using AI and published on CNET was subject to numerous changes from the tech media outlet.

Talking on the subject, CNET reporter Jackson Ryan said the chatbot “definitely can't do the job of a journalist.”