Dailies The Republican East And Vosges Morning will experiment with the use of ChatGPT “within the strict framework of proofreading and corrections of content proposed by our local press correspondents”, announced their owner, the EBRA group, Wednesday October 25. This is the first time that a French press group has announced that it uses generative artificial intelligence (AI) for the usual work of its editorial staff.
The modalities must be clarified on Thursday to staff representatives during a social and economic committee, for implementation in the weeks following its consultation. There will be no impact on jobs, management assures.
“The arrival of generative AI in editorial offices is inevitable and our objective is to anticipate it by testing the tools available in our information processing processes”explains Christophe Mahieu, general director of the two publications.
“Simply test the “office functions””
“Like the spelling correction tools used for years by journalists in our editorial offices, this is simply a matter of testing the “office functions” of this AI tool” what is the ChatGPT conversational robot, developed by the American company OpenAI, he adds, in a statement to Agence France-Presse.
In a press release, the National Union of Journalists (SNJ) affirmed that it “will not leave the keys to information to computers”. “The charters relating to journalistic deontology and ethics are not obsolete. They must impose themselves on AI, it is non-negotiable”he insists.
The management of The Republican East and of Vosges Morning specifies that “the choice, the hierarchy of information, the first and last proofreading as well as the final validation for publication will remain the responsibility of the journalists of our editorial staff”. And, “obviously, the journalist, editorial secretary [qui met en page les articles] may also modify this corrected content if this seems necessary and relevant”. The duration of the experiment will depend on the results obtained.
The EBRA group, owned by Crédit Mutuel, is the leading regional daily press group, with nine titles, including Alsace, DNA, Progresscovering twenty-three departments in eastern France.