AI is criticized for being aggressively marketed and for causing harms including resource waste in data centers, acceleration of gentrification and the housing crisis, creation of a dangerous economic bubble, and alignment with fascist behavior by some leaders. AI outputs are described as often plain wrong, including an example where an AI overview responds to a spelling question despite the correct spelling. Local newsrooms are said to be adopting AI-native approaches that rebrand older technology and rely on content stolen from artists and writers. Control by unaccountable corporations and billionaires is presented as a threat to freedom of the press. 48 Hills positions itself as fully human and local, emphasizing on-the-ground reporting and human craft, while noting a need to reach a Spring Bloom $50K match.
"We're not huge fans of what passes for Artificial Intelligence-at least how the concept has been aggressively sold, i.e. shoved down our throats at every turn. Besides the huge waste of resources at its data centers, the gentrification and housing crisis the "industry" has accelerated, the dangerous economic bubble it's generated, and the fascist elbow-rubbing its leaders have engaged in, well, it's often just plain wrong."
"Yesterday, we asked Google "How many Ls are in 'Google'?" Here's what its "AI Overview" responded: We're pretty sure we spelled "Google" correctly. And yet, more local newsrooms are proudly embracing this "new" technology-most of it just rebranded older technology that has stolen its content from artists and writers-more and more."
"And that technology is controlled by unaccountable corporations and billionaires, who aren't exactly fans of freedom of the press. Recent headlines like the below scare us: San Francisco Standard is going "AI-Native"San Francisco Chronicle: Our Use of AIAI-generated news is here from S.F.-based Hoodline"
"We at 48 Hills got into this business because we want to tell the human stories of San Francisco in a human way-by humans, who know humans. We believe that journalism is a human art, a human science, and a human craft, a precious freedom of inquiry and documentation that expands human perception and can change the way humans live. 48 Hills is 100% human, and 100% local, from our journalists and arts critics to our web designers and backend operations."
#artificial-intelligence #freedom-of-the-press #local-journalism #corporate-power #human-centered-reporting
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