L.A. Times to add AI-driven bias meter, summaries, and other junk to editorials

Great news for the remaining L.A. Times subscribers: A bunch of worthless widgets and AI nonsense are on the way.

By Matt Schimkowitz | March 3, 2025 | 9:05pm

Photo by Kirby Lee (Getty Images)

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L.A. Times to add AI-driven bias meter, summaries, and other junk to editorials

In an effort to beat Jeff Bezos in a race to the bottom, biotech billionaire turned L.A. Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong announced in a letter to readers today more reasons to consider canceling their subscriptions. Dr. Soon-Shiong says that “Insights,” an AI-driven solution to the problem of insufficient pop-ups and worthless widgets on the L.A. Times website, will soon appear in the paper’s opinion pieces. These Insights will “offer readers an instantly accessible way to see a wide range of AI-enabled perspectives alongside the positions presented in the article” because “I believe providing more varied viewpoints supports our journalistic mission and will help readers navigate the issues facing this nation.” It also offers “an annotated summary of the ideas along with different views on the topic from a variety of sources.” In essence, the tool would allow artificial intelligence to scan the article, correlate the words used, guess where on the political spectrum it lies, and then recommend other articles to enrage readers.

“Insights analysis is not created by the editorial staff of the Los Angeles Times and makes no judgment on the quality of any piece of journalism or the viewpoint it espouses,” the letter states. “Insights is intended only to give readers additional perspectives on Voices articles that offer a point of view. AI is an experimental, evolving technology. If you see an error, please report it on the Insights page.”

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Wow, an AI that offers a summary? What a concept. To be clear, AI doesn’t know anything. It’s just guessing based on probability. Still, it’s pretty revealing that he expects users to “report” errors as they see them. Shouldn’t readers come to their own conclusions? Shouldn’t editors edit the paper? Shouldn’t the technology work before adding it to articles? These are questions for men with billions of dollars and zero connection to reality. Still, as fun as it will be to correct these Insights while looking for a way to turn them off, the L.A. Times Guild would rather the paper spend its money investing in writers instead of an “AI-generated analysis unvetted by editorial staff.”

“This tool risks further eroding confidence in the news,” L.A. Times Guild vice chair Matt Hamilton said in a statement. “And the money for this endeavor could have been directed elsewhere: supporting our journalists on the ground who have had no cost-of-living increase since 2021.”

Dr. Soon-Shiong has been planning his “bias meter” for some time. That news came amid widespread chaos at the paper, spurred by the owner’s decision to block the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris. The non-endorsement was followed by some 7,000 subscribers canceling their subscriptions, The L.A. Times reported. Proving that the owner sincerely wants a diversity of opinion and clarity of intent in his stories, he reportedly pulled an opinion piece critical of Robert F. Kennedy Jr so Soon-Shiong could post an endorsement of anti-vax health czar on X, the everything app that runs the U.S. government. Thank you, Dr. Soon-Shiong. In unrelated news, RFK suggested that Texans get a measles vaccine due to the state’s measles outbreak. Thankfully, this bias meter got here before polio did. Phew.

[via The Hollywood Reporter]