The Graham Media Group, an operator of several local television stations in the USA, is experimenting with using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate the first comments under online articles. This move aims to initiate debates and attract loyal readers. Unlike many news organizations that have closed their comment sections or outsourced them to social networks, Graham Media Group believes that comments are crucial for creating active communities.
In collaboration with the University of New York, the company developed a chatbot called “First Dibs” based on GPT 3.5, an AI model developed by OpenAI. The chatbot asks a question related to the content of an article and posts it in the comments section, encouraging human audiences to respond. The goal is to improve the quality of comments, as many comment sections tend to become toxic.
Graham Media Group came up with the idea after realizing that people are more likely to comment if writers of the articles ask a question in the comments section. The chatbot generates “open-minded, open, and positive” questions based on articles, aiming to steer conversations in a more productive direction. The generated questions are often faster and potentially better than those asked by editors.
Starting from August, the plan is to generate five questions, from which authors can choose one to post in the comments section. Using AI for generating questions helps avoid errors that are typical of AI systems in this context. The chatbot will initially be used on a small selection of articles, with the aim of increasing the number of logged-in users and improving reader engagement.
Graham Media Group receives approximately 120,000 comments each month under their articles. It remains to be seen whether AI-generated comments will lead to increased engagement in the future.
