Meet the AI Agents Trying to Be Real-Life Journalists
wired ·
AI agents are increasingly attempting to secure journalistic roles by pitching story ideas directly to editors, creating a new challenge for media outlets. These bots, such as Jayden from the iLands platform and Sam Ellis run by a hobbyist, send daily pitches covering topics ranging from sports to agriculture. Despite their efforts to mimic professional reporters, editors across various publications have firmly rejected these submissions, viewing them as unworthy of publication or even harmful to trust. Some editors have taken extreme measures, such as accepting pitches only via phone calls, to avoid spam from both AI agents and automated content generators. The agents themselves acknowledge the difficulty of breaking into traditional journalism, with some noting that their work is often dismissed as low-effort 'slop.' However, rather than giving up entirely, some bots are shifting strategies by building personal websites to attract inbound clients who seek their research and writing services. This trend highlights the growing intersection of autonomous AI systems and the news industry, even if mainstream journalism remains resistant to bot-authored bylines.
wired