London Newspaper Plans to Revive Dead Art Critic With AI, Lays Off Real Writers

Brian Sewell, who died successful 2015 astatine the property of 84, was erstwhile described arsenic “Britain’s astir celebrated and arguable creation critic.” He wasn’t acrophobic to piss radical disconnected and was often referred to by a agelong database of adjectives that weren’t ever flattering. For years helium wrote for the London’s Evening Standard, publishing his incisive and cutting commentary successful a play column. Now, successful a improvement that—were helium alive—it seems harmless to presume helium would wholly and utterly hate, the paper has “resurrected” his byline and volition resume publishing articles successful his name. Unfortunately, alternatively of having a existent quality constitute the articles, they volition beryllium penned by an artificial quality program.

This quality comes via a report from Deadline, which quotes 2 sources with cognition of the newspaper’s plans. Deadline writes that “AI Sewell has been assigned to reappraisal The National Gallery’s caller Vincent van Gogh exhibition, titled Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers” and that the plans for the chatbot’s deployment “were discussed astatine the highest level of the Standard and successful consultation with Lord Lebedev, the newspaper’s proprietor.”

Why a work would bash this is chartless and astir of the plausible explanations are bad. It doesn’t look retired of the realm of the anticipation that the Standard is simply trying to disturbance up contention and outrage to thrust scholar interest. The paper hasn’t been doing precise good lately (it precocious switched from regular to play editions and has been laying disconnected a batch of existent quality writers), truthful a publicity stunt of immoderate benignant would marque sense.

It’s imaginable Standard editors earnestly (albeit inexplicably) deliberation that readers volition beryllium funny successful what a chatbot named aft a dormant creation professional has to accidental astir creation installations. Maybe they deliberation radical volition find it cute. I truly person nary idea.

We besides don’t cognize wherever the Standard plans to get its AI mentation of Sewell—whether it has an in-house squad that volition physique the virtual “writer” oregon volition spouse with an AI steadfast to get the occupation done. Gizmodo reached retired to the Standard to inquire them for details and volition update our station erstwhile we person a response.

What is wide is that AI, arsenic it stands today, does a piss-poor occupation of making art. The conception that it could acquisition creation and measure its prime for readers is laughable.

In my view, media companies who makes deals with AI companies (and determination person been rather a fewer lately) are astir equivalent to assemblage co-eds who manus retired their location addresses to serial killers. After getting royally screwed by the tech manufacture for the past 2 decades (which has sucked up each of the advertisement gross that antecedently fueled journalistic institutions), the solution isn’t to past spell and proceed cozying up to that industry. It whitethorn beryllium hard to internalize fixed each the sound and hype surrounding this technology, but the bottommost enactment is this: newspapers should beryllium reporting connected the AI industry, not partnering with it.