"As such, the Washington Post announced this week that it's launching an AI-based podcast service that allows listeners to pick their own format and even their own disembodied AI host. The "Your Personal Podcast" is now available to users on the newspaper's mobile app as of today - but whether anybody will pick up on the company's offer to be inundated with potentially misinformed AI slop remains to be seen."
"Their concerns are certainly warranted, given the tech's track record. Large language models have an extremely well-documented tendency to make up facts and further biases found in their training data, a reality made all the more problematic given the interests of WaPo 's owner and Amazon cofounder Jeff Bezos. Under his ownership, the newspaper has made major strides in converting itself into something approaching a tech company, a notable departure from its legacy as a trustworthy source of news."
Podcast format has largely remained the same since the early 2000s as short shows recorded by hosts and distributed digitally to entertain or update listeners. The advent of AI enables tech companies to replace the human-to-human connection by offering customizable, AI-hosted audio. The Washington Post launched an AI-based service called "Your Personal Podcast" that lets users choose formats and disembodied AI hosts via its mobile app. Public reactions ranged from rejection to alarm, citing risks of misinformation. Large language models can fabricate facts and amplify biases, increasing concern amid ownership and editorial shifts toward technology and particular ideological focuses.
Read at Futurism
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