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 investigative journalism


I Asked AI to Write a Novel. It's Not So Bad.

Mother Jones

I Asked AI to Write a Novel. What does this tell us about the future of writing? Like many offbeat ideas, this one originated in a bar. I was drinking with a fellow author, and we were bemoaning the future of writing in a world of artificial intelligence. We nervously pondered how much of what we writers do could be replicated now or in the near future by a chatbot. We assured ourselves that our work--researching and investigating and then composing articles and books on complicated topics, which present fresh material, compelling context, and sharp analysis in (we hope) an engaging manner--cannot be supplanted by a machine. Can AI manufacture books that are good enough that some readers will welcome them and not care that they emerged from a data center? Generative artificial intelligence has already invaded--or infected--the world of fan fiction . I have friends who have used AI with their kids to create children's books. Iranian meme-makers have deployed it to concoct slick Lego-style videos deriding Donald Trump. The issue is not the ability of a chatbot to churn out algorithmically determined masterpieces.


What AI Regulation and Ownership Could Be

Mother Jones

Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. As an ordinary internet user, I am skeptical about AI. My colleagues and I have reported on several harmful aspects of the technology in the US: threats to democracy, its impact on the environment, mental health, the workforce, military intervention --the list goes on. While researching the gaps in conversations around enforceable government regulation of AI startups, both big and small, eager to innovate and launch new products, I came across AI researchers, policy experts, and even "ordinary internet users" like me trying to reimagine how the industry could work. If AI is unstoppable, can we build it in a way where the public has more of a say in how the technology is made, used, and who it benefits? To answer these questions, I spoke with B Cavello, the director of emerging technologies at the Aspen Institute .


OpenAI Hacking Fiasco Exposes a "Deeply Insufficient" System to Protect the Public

Mother Jones

"We're quite behind the ball on tackling all those risks," argues a leading AI expert pushing for more regulation. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks to journalists after meeting with US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Capitol Hill on June 3, 2026. Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. The incident sounded straight out of a science fiction movie: OpenAI's super-advanced tool hacked another AI company's systems in an attempt to pass its own Just replace the AI tech with a newly engineered virus and you have an entire existing subgenre. "We consider this incident to be an unprecedented cyber incident, involving state-of-the-art cyber capabilities," OpenAI wrote in a Tuesday blog post explaining the incident.


Lawsuit: Meta Used AI For Discriminatory Layoffs

Mother Jones

The tech giant allegedly targeted workers with disabilities and those who took medical or family leave. The layoffs were part of Meta's plan to cut 10 percent of staff in an effort to prioritize AI initiatives. Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. A group of 26 current and former Meta employees filed a lawsuit Monday evening accusing the tech company of using AI software to target employees with disabilities and those who took medical or family leave in its mass layoffs in May. Those layoffs were part of Meta's plans to cut 10 percent of its staff, or roughly 8,000 workers, and close about 6,000 open positions, in an effort to prioritize AI initiatives.


Trump Blocks Foreigners From Using Anthropic's Latest AI Tech

Mother Jones

Our Summer Membership Drive ends in a few days, but we're only halfway to our goal. We need a surge of supporters now to raise the funds that ensure we can cover every story. Our Summer Membership Drive ends in a few days, but we're only halfway to our goal. We need a surge of supporters now to pull this off. The company previously refused to allow the military unrestricted access.


Most New US Data Centers Are Slated for Drought-Plagued Areas

Mother Jones

To meet this moment, we need YOU. For five decades, has been exposing the corruption that the powerful would rather keep buried. That fight for the truth is at a pivotal point, and it takes readers like you to make it possible. To meet this moment, we need YOU. That fight for the truth is at a pivotal point, and it takes readers like you to make it possible. Amid public outcry over water-guzzling server farms, a Guardian analysis indicates trouble ahead.


Gwyneth Paltrow Just Goopified Drone Warfare

Mother Jones

To meet this moment, we need YOU. For five decades, has been exposing the corruption that the powerful would rather keep buried. That fight for the truth is at a pivotal point, and it takes readers like you to make it possible. To meet this moment, we need YOU. That fight for the truth is at a pivotal point, and it takes readers like you to make it possible.


Bumble, Grindr, and Hinge Moderators Struggle to Keep Users--and Themselves--Safe

WIRED

"I wasn't able to go outside anywhere alone," Ana says. "I had so much anxiety that when I went outside to do errands, I lost consciousness twice. That's when I realized I was very sick." Ana began working for LGBTQ dating app Grindr when she was in her early twenties, one of hundreds of Hondurans hired by US-headquartered outsourcing company PartnerHero to work on the account. Her team was based in San Pedro Sula, Honduras' second city, where they handled tasks ranging from the mundane--tech support emails and billing queries--to the horrifying: user reports of sexual assault, homophobic violence, child sexual abuse, and murder.


Artificial Intelligence in U.S. Counterterrorism and the Inescapable Fog of (Endless) War · Peace Science Digest

#artificialintelligence

This analysis summarizes and reflects on the following research: Suchman, L. (2020). Project Maven was introduced to the media and U.S. general public in the summer of 2018 when several Google employees voiced concerns over the company's contract to automate the labeling of images from U.S. military drones to determine "objects of interest" (including vehicles, buildings, and persons) with sparse details on its intended purpose. In solidarity, academic researchers supported Google employees' concerns and added that "further automation…of the US drone program can only serve to worsen an operation that is already highly problematic, even arguably illegal and immoral under the laws and norms of armed conflict." While Google decided not to renew the contract following its employees' protests, the project's contract was picked up and continued by a different company. This story, and Project Maven more generally, typifies an intersection of critical security studies and technology studies that Lucy Suchman examines in research on automation and artificial intelligence technologies in U.S. counterterrorism strategies.


The impact of AI and collaboration on investigative journalism

#artificialintelligence

Emilia Díaz-Struck is research editor and Latin American coordinator for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). She oversees data projects and has been involved in some major cross-border investigations including the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers and the Offshore Leaks. The ICIJ receives vast amounts of files from whistleblowers and uses AI-powered technologies to sift through that data more efficiently. For our interview series with women working on the intersection of AI and journalism, Emilia spoke to us about how exactly AI is deployed and what impact it will have on investigative journalism. JournalismAI: You have a very diverse background in journalism, having worked with major organisations such as The Washington Post, the Press and Society Institute of Venezuela and co-founding your own news site Armando.info. How did you initially move into a data-driven role?