Artificial IntelligenceArtificial intelligence (AI) has made monumental strides in recent years. From chatbots like ChatGPT to image generators like Midjourney, it is becoming more and more challenging to differentiate what has been created by a human, or (in the case of the most advanced image generators), what is even real.What once seemed like a fun diversion, with real-world applications for the vast majority of people seeming to be years, if not decades away, has quickly become our present day reality. AI is being used for more purposes and in more industries than we likely even realize at the moment.But, since this has all evolved so quickly, we as a society lack the proper guardrails and regulations around AI, and the results of this have been troubling. Fake images have been passed off as real, circulating to millions of people before they are pointed out as a generated image, and by then the damage has already been done. In the entertainment industry, writers are currently striking, in part because of how studios are using AI to generate scripts, wanting to pay real (ie: human) writers only to clean up the drafts.And yes, some news outlets are using AI to create stories, and even to cover events and meetings. Some of these articles are noticeably, embarrassingly awful. Others are better, but still lack a basic touch of humanity. For all of them, the crucial question arises: for news outlets using AI to cover meetings and write articles, is there an actual human being proofreading and fact-checking these stories? This becomes especially important when considering township meetings and the information passed on to readers from the discussions held during them.Despite very real plagiarism concerns associated with companies feeding the work of other writers and artists into their programs, AI is undoubtedly a part of our future. It is not going away, and there is no denying that fact. But let us be clear – here, at the Tribune, we are real. We understand the value and the journalistic integrity in having a real person attend our local meetings, talk to residents, develop relationships, and form an understanding of our community, for which AI simply cannot account.It is because of these connections that we are still here, and we have no plans to ruin that relationship by taking shortcuts with how we deliver Livingston its news each week.Summertime SafetySummertime safety is about more than ...
