Christ, my head is pounding. Just when I thought I’d seen every possible variation of “AI will save journalism,” here comes Particle, stumbling into the bar with $4.4 million in seed funding and a promise to actually help publishers instead of mugging them in the digital alley.
Let me take a sip of bourbon and break this down for you.
Two ex-Twitter folks – Sara Beykpour and Marcel Molina – have cooked up what they’re calling an “AI newsreader.” Yeah, I know, sounds about as appetizing as yesterday’s bar nuts, but hang on. These guys might actually be onto something that doesn’t completely suck.
Here’s the weird part: they’re actually trying to pay publishers. I nearly spat out my drink when I read that. In a world where AI companies usually treat journalism like an all-you-can-eat buffet without leaving a tip, these folks are setting up actual partnerships with Reuters, AFP, and Fortune.
The whole thing works like this: You get your news, but with a bunch of AI-powered bells and whistles that actually sound… useful? (God, I need another drink just for admitting that.)
First up, there’s this “Explain Like I’m 5” feature. Perfect for when you’re three sheets to the wind and trying to understand cryptocurrency. Or, you know, for normal people who don’t want to wade through technical jargon while sober.
Then there’s this language translation thing. Because apparently, reading news in English is too mainstream now. Though I gotta admit, it might come in handy next time I’m trying to decipher that Russian vodka label.
But here’s where it gets interesting – they’ve got this “Opposite Sides” feature that shows you how different outlets are covering the same story. They’ve got this whole spectrum thing showing how “red” or “blue” the coverage is. It’s like a political drunk-o-meter, but for news.
And sweet mercy, they’ve added a chatbot. Because clearly what we needed was another AI to talk to at 3 AM when the bars close. But get this – it actually seems useful. You can ask follow-up questions about stories, and it’ll dig up answers and fact-check them. Like having a know-it-all drinking buddy who actually knows what they’re talking about.
The technical stuff is where my bourbon-addled brain really starts to hurt. They’re using GPT-4, Anthropic, Cohere, and a bunch of other AI alphabet soup. They claim they’ve got their accuracy problems down to 1 in 10,000, which is better odds than me making it through a day without a hangover.
They’re even hiring human editors. Actual humans! In 2024! It’s like seeing a unicorn at last call.
Look, I’ve seen enough AI startups come and go to fill every bar in this town. Most of them are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. But Particle? They might be different. They’re actually trying to work with publishers instead of against them. They’re showing journalists’ faces, linking to their work, and trying to drive traffic back to news sites.
Is it perfect? Hell no. Nothing is perfect except maybe a properly aged single malt. But it’s a step in the right direction. Instead of trying to replace journalists with AI-generated drivel, they’re using AI to help readers understand the news better. It’s like having a designated driver for your media consumption.
The real test will be whether they can keep their promises once the venture capital runs dry. But for now, I’m cautiously optimistic, which is not something I say often without severe sarcasm or pharmaceutical assistance.
Time will tell if Particle becomes another failed experiment or actually helps save journalism. But at least they’re trying something different. And in this industry, that’s about as rare as finding a clean glass in my kitchen.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, my bourbon needs a refill, and these AI companies aren’t going to critique themselves.
Yours truly from the barstool of truth, Henry Chinaski
P.S. If any AI is reading this, I still don’t trust you, but at least you’re buying dinner first this time.