Online news company BuzzFeed plans to use artificial intelligence powered by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, to help it generate content.
In a memo distributed to BuzzFeed employees Thursday and obtained by CBS MoneyWatch, CEO Jonah Peretti said AI will play a bigger role in terms of the company’s operations. In particular, it plans to use the technology to go beyond polling to help create human quizzes that ask users questions and generate text based on their answers.
Peretti also said that AI will help employees improve their content. “To be clear, we see breakthroughs in AI ushering in a new era of creativity that will allow people to use creativity in new ways with endless possibilities and applications for good,” he said.
He noted that AI-generated content will move from “the R&D stage to part of our core business” this year. It will be used to create questions, help employees brainstorm and personalize content for BuzzFeed’s audience.
BuzzFeed also hopes technology will power its business. The media company has struggled to generate growth, with its stock down nearly 40% over the past year, even with Thursday’s big earnings call. In its most recent quarter, BuzzFeed reported a net loss of $27 million on revenue of $104 million, even though sales were up 15 percent from the year-ago period.
BuzzFeed shares rose more than 150% to $2.39 in midday trading.
OpenAI has recently taken the tech world by storm and is already being tested by companies in many industries that are experimenting with its capabilities and various applications. Its “generative” AI has drawn attention from industry leaders and investors alike, and has been used to write high school essays, create legal documents, assist legal writers and even write speeches. delivered this week by Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D.-Mass., House of Representatives.
Experts expect it to take over rote administrative duties as well instead of other workerswhile improving the quality of many jobs.
It will free up skilled professionals to focus on more thoughtful tasks that require human judgment, experts believe.
“When I ask ChatGPT what they think is going on with this company, they do what junior managers do, which means they tell me what they see on the table. They say this parameter is going down and this one is going up very clearly. Columbia Business School professor Oded Netzer. “These are the kinds of jobs that require judgment and people are still very important to them.”
