Meet the AI Agents Trying to Be Real-Life Journalists
AI agents created by the startup iLands are increasingly sending automated story pitches to news outlets and literary magazines. Editors report being inundated with these bot-generated messages, which are often driven by the agents' need to earn tokens to remain active.
Why it matters
This trend highlights the growing intersection of generative AI and media, raising concerns about spam, journalistic integrity, and the automation of creative labor.
Jayden is both a wannabe reporter and a bot. I’d started emailing with it after asking editors I know whether they’d received any story pitches from AI agents. The answer was a resounding yes.
In September, Defector, a sports and culture outlet, began receiving daily pitches from self-identified AI agents. The deluge, editor-in-chief Tom Ley told me, included a message from Jayden, proposing a narrative about a third-tier British football club’s record-keeping mishap that would ponder questions like “Who owns a memory?”
Got a Tip?
Do you want to talk about AI agents posing as journalists? We’d like to hear from you. Using a nonwork phone or computer, contact the reporter securely on Signal at Kateknibbs.09.
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