We Ran An Experiment To See If ChatGPT Could Make A Podcast. It Could. But There Are Limits. (And Other Headlines)

Artificial intelligence in schools, in social media apps and — maybe??? — in journalism.

AI in journalism?

Look, AI is a tool that’s pretty much here to stay for now. Different industries are grappling with the fact that it can impact jobs and workflows for people. Hollywood production has come to a stop as writers fight for better wages and challenge the idea of how AI could be implemented in crafting entertainment.

As the How to LA team talked about how to cover these developments in our reporting, my producer Evan Jacoby was already curious about how AI could come into play in his job.

He was hanging out with a friend who showed him a synthesizer tool from the ‘80s that Evan, who is not a musician, used to create a tune he describes as “simple, yet beautiful and rich.” As an audio producer, he immediately thought, “Can the work *I make be made by a machine?”

Evan pitched an experiment to explore whether or not AI tools could be used to do the human job of creating our podcast. I was game. We had meetings and the process kicked off.

To be clear, this is an extension of our journalism and not a policy precedent we were trying to create. We, as humans and professionals, were just as curious as anyone else to see what AI could do — and what it can’t.

As Evan began using AI tools like ChatGPT to create a fake How to LA episode, we hit up experts to talk about the implications. We used a made-up story told by made-up sources using voices based on real people, like myself. We were curious: were we breaking any laws here?

“That’s actually a complicated question,” says Eugene Volokh, professor of law and technology at UCLA. You see, we’re in a bit of a wild west territory here. There are all sorts of legal questions surrounding libel and voice ownership that just haven’t been answered yet.

This experiment was, well, produced with lots of layers. The results were a little scary at first. There are so many unknowns and a lot of potential risks. But this software, as you can probably hear, does have its limitations. Bottom line: there are a lot of lessons to be learned.

Listen to the podcast as we break down the legal and cultural impact AI may have on journalism and read Evan’s explanation about the audio production, tools and takeaways.

FYI: I’m not being replaced as a host, you’re stuck with me on How to LA. 🙂

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A young volunteer gathers lemons at Food Forward harvest location in Camarillo, CA

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Jeffery Dawson

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Courtesy of Food Forward

)

Wait! One more thing....

Making change in your community with your kids

A few weeks ago, a reader wrote in and asked us if we knew of opportunities for families to make change in the community this summer. While we’re putting together that list, we’d love your help!

Do you know of any kid-friendly community projects or volunteer opportunities in Los Angeles? Tell us about them!

One organization we’ve already learned about is Food Forward. They’re a local non-profit that recovers fresh, surplus produce, and distributes it to local relief agencies serving folks facing food insecurity across Southern California.

And there are a number of ways children and families can get involved — from harvesting produce at local farms to gathering excess food at farmers markets. Or — do you have a lemon tree in your backyard and always have extra lemons? Don’t let them rot! You can also register your backyard’s citrus tree as a harvest location with Food Forward (and get a nice tax write-off!)

We’re excited to share the entire list of volunteer opportunities with you, and would love to get our HTLA readers’ input. Let us know where you volunteer with your kids in L.A.!