BuzzFeed will start using AI to write quizzes and other content

Nothing like a spokesperson issuing assurances that BuzzFeed “remains focused on human-generated journalism” to make you feel good about the future of the news industry, right?

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday on a staff memo at BuzzFeed that laid out plans for the digital media company to use OpenAI — creator of ChatGPT — to help write quizzes and other content. In the memo, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti wrote AI will play a role in both editorial and business operations at BuzzFeed within the next year.

“For example, a quiz to create a personal romantic comedy movie pitch might ask questions like, ‘Pick a trope for your rom-com,’ and ‘Tell us an endearing flaw you have,'” the Journal’s Alexandra Bruell reported. “The quiz would produce a unique, shareable write-up based on the individual’s responses, BuzzFeed said.”

But, hey! Humans will still provide “cultural currency” and “inspired prompts,” according to Peretti’s memo.

“If the past 15 years of the internet have been defined by algorithmic feeds that curate and recommend content, the next 15 years will be defined by AI and data helping create, personalize, and animate the content itself,” Peretti wrote.

Maybe it’s because the news comes as several news organizations announced layoffs and other cuts, but many found the update grim.

The stock market on the other hand? $BZFD jumped upon the news that the company plans to use AI to generate content.

After introducing AI-generated news articles, the outlet CNET had to issue “substantial” corrections, respond to accusations of plagiarism, and ultimately hit pause on the whole experiment earlier this month. BuzzFeed must be hoping that using AI for quizzes will be less fraught.


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