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NewsNotFound: An open-source, unbiased news company

newsnotfound.com

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Re: NewsNotFound: An open-source, unbiased news company

#12

Imagine you could see into the minds of news reporters - their intentions, thought processes, and emotions when writing articles. This would allow us to hold reporters accountable for bias, misinformation, and sensationalism. Now imagine we could also dictate and control these thought processes and intentions, so as to ensure they aren't aligned with any particular viewpoint or political agenda. Unfortunately, this i…

This idea punches down. Journalists work so hard to complete the work they do. They do not need this.

And as noted elsewhere, AI is not inherently unbiased. In fact, one of the big problems with AI is that it introduces systemic bias, and understanding the role of fairness is very important here. https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22916602/ai-bias-fairness...

I would also raise the point that journalism is actually moving past this idea of objectivity at all costs, where writers intentionally wear their point of view on their sleeve. It is no longer a negative to be purely unbiased. In fact, there are real concerns that objectivity leads to important questions not being asked or presented. (You might have heard the term “the view from nowhere.” That’s what I’m getting at.)

To be clear, the work of journalists should not go unchallenged, but this feels like something you should spend time actually talking to some experts on journalism before you actually build it. The mindset you’re presenting here does not suggest you have.

Re: NewsNotFound: An open-source, unbiased news company

#13
post #9

"By replacing the human middle-man with our AI-centric article creation process, we eliminate the potential for bias and ensure that all coverage remains impartial." AI LLMs inherit biases from their training data and the constraints the model builders added. There's no such thing as unbiased reporting; the usual way that this is attempted is to claim that the "unbiased" position is halfway between the positions of t…

This ideology of “replace corrupt institutions with tech” is at the center of SV ideology going back to the 70s. It’s as flawed then as it is now, but it occasionally has wins.

There’s a great documentary on the long history of this idea in tech, both wins and losses, called “all watched over by machines of loving grace”. Brilliant documentary.

Re: NewsNotFound: An open-source, unbiased news company

#14
post #9

"By replacing the human middle-man with our AI-centric article creation process, we eliminate the potential for bias and ensure that all coverage remains impartial." AI LLMs inherit biases from their training data and the constraints the model builders added. There's no such thing as unbiased reporting; the usual way that this is attempted is to claim that the "unbiased" position is halfway between the positions of t…

I came here to comment on that paragraph. The training data, the model parameters, the prompt, the source articles and headlines—all of these add to the bias in a system like this.

A news site saying "we eliminate the potential for bias" is like an airline saying "we eliminate the potential for accidents". It's a massive red flag and should warn you to stay far away. Bias can be controlled, but never eliminated, and anyone who thinks they've gotten rid of it is either lying or hopelessly naive.

Re: NewsNotFound: An open-source, unbiased news company

#15
In addition to all the other comments pointing out how stupid this is, and how stupid your claims of non-bias are:

Why pick such a stupid name? The Twitter handle is already taken by a parody account titled "Real FakeNews", that didn't tip you off as to how this name would be received?

Re: NewsNotFound: An open-source, unbiased news company

#16
post #9

"By replacing the human middle-man with our AI-centric article creation process, we eliminate the potential for bias and ensure that all coverage remains impartial." AI LLMs inherit biases from their training data and the constraints the model builders added. There's no such thing as unbiased reporting; the usual way that this is attempted is to claim that the "unbiased" position is halfway between the positions of t…

I mean yes, it's biased compared to the mythical unattainable standard of being completely unbiased. But that's not the bar. The bar is mainstream news outlets, which are drastically easier to outperform even with a half-assed attempt.

Re: NewsNotFound: An open-source, unbiased news company

#17
As expected, it has trouble with time and sequence. See "SpaceX Starship rocket system explodes during test flight".[1]

"On Tuesday, SpaceX conducted an uncrewed sub-orbital test of its Starship rocket system in Texas. The spacecraft, which is designed to carry up to 100 astronauts to Mars, exploded within minutes of takeoff."

"100 astronauts to Mars?"

The launch was originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 18, but was delayed until Thursday, April 20. The story appears on NewsNotFound on Friday, April 21, as a current event.

There needs to be a step in this process which constructs timelines.

[1] https://newsnotfound.com/spacex-starship-rocket-system-explo...

Re: NewsNotFound: An open-source, unbiased news company

#18
post #9

"By replacing the human middle-man with our AI-centric article creation process, we eliminate the potential for bias and ensure that all coverage remains impartial." AI LLMs inherit biases from their training data and the constraints the model builders added. There's no such thing as unbiased reporting; the usual way that this is attempted is to claim that the "unbiased" position is halfway between the positions of t…

The fact that major LLMs will happily criticize certain politicians but claim they’re unable to comment on others given equally available training data is a fairly good window into what kind of biases exist within them.

Re: NewsNotFound: An open-source, unbiased news company

#20
post #9

"By replacing the human middle-man with our AI-centric article creation process, we eliminate the potential for bias and ensure that all coverage remains impartial." AI LLMs inherit biases from their training data and the constraints the model builders added. There's no such thing as unbiased reporting; the usual way that this is attempted is to claim that the "unbiased" position is halfway between the positions of t…

I mean yes, it's biased compared to the mythical unattainable standard of being completely unbiased. But that's not the bar. The bar is mainstream news outlets, which are drastically easier to outperform even with a half-assed attempt.

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