There have been rumours swirling around Halifax for the past few years that have intensified as we launched Best of Halifax nominations that The Coast uses AI to generate stories; that we use fake information and fake quotes to disseminate false information.
I have been with The Coast—first as newsletter editor and now as editor-in-chief—for two and a half years now and not once in the entire time that I have been with this publication has a writer—freelance or staff—used AI to generate content.
Brendyn Creamer, Warren D’Silva, Mark DeWolf, contributor Liz LeClair and myself are all very real people who work very hard to keep local journalism alive and to bring it to you for free, both on the website and in the daily newsletter. To accuse us of cheating is unfair, but also unkind.
We edit each other’s work. We keep transcripts and notes from interviews. And we are very quick to issue corrections if we feel we have misled our readers in any way, shape or form. If we’re wrong, we make it right. And sometimes we are wrong and that’s because…we’re human!
Many news organizations are using AI on the daily and that’s actually probably the way of the future, whether we like it or not. But that is not the reality for The Coast.
At a time when local journalism is literally on the brink of extinction, we would love it if you could be positive and support us as we continue to tell the stories, profile the people, and showcase the art that is so abundant in our great city.
The Coast was referred to a while back as “AI Slop” in the headline of an article written by a misinformed journalist who spoke to a total of zero people that actually worked at The Coast at the time. Had they, they would have been told the same thing I’m telling you. But that would have been a less clickable headline.
Here’s the bottom line: We are not AI slop. We are just regular, flawed human slop. And we plan to keep it that way.
To illustrate, I have put together this riveting video showing a day in my very real, very human life as I put together The Coast Daily, Halifax. Because you deserve to have something that’s just for you.
Love and light!
Jules
Unfortunately last year’s Best of Halifax awards (nomination through to winners) felt incredibly AI generated which is why the rumours persist, and have intensified since you’ve announced this years nominations are open. What guarantees are in place so that businesses who have been closed for years, or have never even existed here, won’t be nominated? Having your own staff be nominated in other categories also felt icky as that’s never happened before and seemed anything but fair.
I’ve been a Coast fan since my literal childhood, and have been a working journalist myself. I have no doubt that real people work hard on your team – but better attention needs to be paid to Awards (why was David’s Tea a finalist for best tea shop when they’ve been gone from Halifax since before Covid?).
Love what y’all do, and would love some clarity on how that nomination process works & who vets those nominees 🙂
I look forward to your thoughtful editorials every day, Julie!