pulitzer-prize-winning-journalists-reveal-using-ai

Marking a historic first, two of the fifteen people awarded with Pulitzer Prize for Journalism admitted using AI in their submitted stories. 

 

Marjorie Miller, who administers the Pulitzer Prizes, noted the novelty, stating, "We are not aware of precedents offhand. Previous data discerns winners may have used low-level machine learning applications. This is the first time we’ve explicitly asked the question." 

 

Reporting for the Nieman Lab, Alex Perry this year in the month of March, reported that at least 45 finalists in the race for the Pulitzer Prize had revealed using AI in their research, reporting, or drafting processes. Interestingly, while there's ongoing buzz and concern surrounding generative AI in newsrooms worldwide, it was machine learning, particularly for investigative reporting, that was most prevalent among these finalists.

 

The local reporting prize-winning piece "Missing in Chicago," produced by City Bureau and Invisible Institute, utilised a tailored machine learning tool to sift through thousands of police misconduct files. 

 

Meanwhile, The New York Times' visual investigations desk employed a model to detect 2,000-pound bomb craters in areas labeled as safe for civilians in Gaza, contributing to their win in the international reporting category.

 

In conversations with the journalists behind the two Pulitzer-winning AI-utilizing stories, insights were shared on how they incorporated machine learning into their investigations and what lessons can be drawn for other newsrooms. 

 

Trina Reynolds-Tyler, the data director at the Invisible Institute, shared the Pulitzer with City Bureau reporter Sarah Conway for 'Missing in Chicago', about using AI, cited, "We used machine learning to parse through the text in police misconduct records, specifically the document types that had narratives living within them." 

 

Besides this, Miller also confirmed three other finalists who admitted to utilising AI in their submissions too. Among them were The Villages Daily Sun's local news series on the government's actions following Hurricane Ian, focusing on a large retirement community in Florida. 

 

Bloomberg also made the list with their investigation into how the United States government contributes to the global proliferation of gun violence, along with explanatory reporting on the water profiteering industry.