New York Times picks an AI moderator over a Public Editor

In a surprising move, the New York Times announced to its staff on Wednesday that it will immediately eliminate the position of Public Editor at its publication. The role will instead be filled by an expanded comments section -- one that is moderated by artificial intelligence. The position of Public Editor is a relatively new one at the venerable news publication. It was created in 2003 in the aftermath of the Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal as a means of facilitating greater transparency and accountability with the paper's subscribers. There have been six such editors in the 14 years since the position's creation, though Liz Spayd, the current (and rather unpopular) editor will be its last.