The New York Times has started showing readers text written by a machine. A new search page answers queries with excerpts, links to Times stories and AI-generated summaries of Times reporting. Max Tani, Semafor’s media editor, reported the test on Sunday.
The paper rolled it out quietly to a small subset of visitors over recent weeks. It is the news arm’s first test of AI-generated text that no Times journalist or editor has passed.
The Times hopes the tool will fix a search feature Semafor describes as troubled. Some of the paper’s own journalists are alarmed by it.
What the Times says
“We are always testing new ways for our users to discover and engage with Times journalism,” spokesperson Graham James told Semafor.
