‘A magazine made by humans’: Atlantic writers push back on AI
2024-08-01T19:20:33.466ZA rack of magazines, including the Atlantic, on display in a bookstore in San Francisco. (Robert Alexander/Getty Images)Two months after the Atlantic reached a licensing deal with OpenAI, staffers at the storied magazine are demanding the company ensure their jobs and work are protected.Nearly 60 journalists — including marquee names such as Adam Serwer, Caitlin Flanagan, Jerusalem Demsas, and George Packer — signed a letter calling on the company to “stop prioritizing its bottom line and champion the Atlantic’s journalism.” The unionized staffers want the Atlantic bosses to include AI protections in the union contract, which the two sides have been negotiating since 2022.“Our editorial leaders say that The Atlantic is a magazine made by humans, for humans,” the letter says. “We could not agree more.”As media bosses scramble to decide if and how they should partner with artificial intelligence companies, workers are increasingly concerned that the technology could imperil their jobs or degrade their work.The Atlantic staffers’ letter noted a pattern by ChatGPT of generating gibberish web addresses instead of the links intended to attribute the reporting it has borrowed, as well as sending readers to sites that have summarized Atlantic stories rather than the original work.OpenAI is currently fighting a copyright lawsuit from the New York Times — one of the few media companies that opted to challenge the tech firm, rather than partner with it. As part of its legal defense, OpenAI has demanded that the Times turn over its journalists’ notes, interview memos and other reporting materials, which the Atlantic writers called “incredibly troubling.”Atlantic spokesperson Anna Bross said company leaders “agree with the general principles” expressed by the union. For that reason, she said, they recently proposed a commitment to not to use AI to publish content “without human review and editorial oversight.”Representatives from the Atlantic Union bargaining committee told The Washington Post that “the fact remains that the company has flatly refused to commit to not replacing employees with AI.”Following in the footsteps of the Hollywood writers’ union — which last year won critical AI protections for its members after a grueling five-month strike — media workers at the Atlantic and elsewhere are seeking to protect their jobs and have a say in how generative AI is deployed in their newsrooms. Screenwriters represented by the Writers Guild of America West won a contract that set a certain precedent: It is up to the writers to decide if and how they use AI tools to assist and complement, but not replace, their work.In the media world, no such standard has been set. But last month, the union representing journalists at Lifehacker, Mashable and PCMag ratified a contract that protects union members from being laid off because AI has impacted their roles and requires the company to discuss any such plans to implement AI tools ahead of time.Several media companies, including The Washington Post, are experimenting with using AI technology to write article summaries and answer reader questions about certain topics. There’s a sense among media executives that an AI revolution is inevitable — and no one wants to miss out.“AI is coming, it is coming quickly,” Atlantic chief executive Nick Thompson said in an interview with the Verge last month.“[The] transition might be bad, the transition might be good, but we believe the odds of it being good for journalism and the kind of work we do with The Atlantic are higher if we participate in it,” he said.The Atlantic journalists want to help decide what this participation looks like.“Although we understand that there may be a place at The Atlantic for artificial intelligence,” their letter said, “Atlantic staffers must have a voice in how it affects our work.”
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Two months after the Atlantic reached a licensing deal with OpenAI, staffers at the storied magazine are demanding the company ensure their jobs and work are protected.
Nearly 60 journalists — including marquee names such as Adam Serwer, Caitlin Flanagan, Jerusalem Demsas, and George Packer — signed a letter calling on the company to “stop prioritizing its bottom line and champion the Atlantic’s journalism.” The unionized staffers want the Atlantic bosses to include AI protections in the union contract, which the two sides have been negotiating since 2022.
“Our editorial leaders say that The Atlantic is a magazine made by humans, for humans,” the letter says. “We could not agree more.”
As media bosses scramble to decide if and how they should partner with artificial intelligence companies, workers are increasingly concerned that the technology could imperil their jobs or degrade their work.
The Atlantic staffers’ letter noted a pattern by ChatGPT of generating gibberish web addresses instead of the links intended to attribute the reporting it has borrowed, as well as sending readers to sites that have summarized Atlantic stories rather than the original work.
OpenAI is currently fighting a copyright lawsuit from the New York Times — one of the few media companies that opted to challenge the tech firm, rather than partner with it. As part of its legal defense, OpenAI has demanded that the Times turn over its journalists’ notes, interview memos and other reporting materials, which the Atlantic writers called “incredibly troubling.”
Atlantic spokesperson Anna Bross said company leaders “agree with the general principles” expressed by the union. For that reason, she said, they recently proposed a commitment to not to use AI to publish content “without human review and editorial oversight.”
Representatives from the Atlantic Union bargaining committee told The Washington Post that “the fact remains that the company has flatly refused to commit to not replacing employees with AI.”
Following in the footsteps of the Hollywood writers’ union — which last year won critical AI protections for its members after a grueling five-month strike — media workers at the Atlantic and elsewhere are seeking to protect their jobs and have a say in how generative AI is deployed in their newsrooms. Screenwriters represented by the Writers Guild of America West won a contract that set a certain precedent: It is up to the writers to decide if and how they use AI tools to assist and complement, but not replace, their work.
In the media world, no such standard has been set. But last month, the union representing journalists at Lifehacker, Mashable and PCMag ratified a contract that protects union members from being laid off because AI has impacted their roles and requires the company to discuss any such plans to implement AI tools ahead of time.
Several media companies, including The Washington Post, are experimenting with using AI technology to write article summaries and answer reader questions about certain topics. There’s a sense among media executives that an AI revolution is inevitable — and no one wants to miss out.
“AI is coming, it is coming quickly,” Atlantic chief executive Nick Thompson said in an interview with the Verge last month.
“[The] transition might be bad, the transition might be good, but we believe the odds of it being good for journalism and the kind of work we do with The Atlantic are higher if we participate in it,” he said.
The Atlantic journalists want to help decide what this participation looks like.
“Although we understand that there may be a place at The Atlantic for artificial intelligence,” their letter said, “Atlantic staffers must have a voice in how it affects our work.”
