Insider Cuts 10% of Staff, Says ChatGPT AI Tests Not to Blame
Insider, a news outlet, has laid off 10% of its workforce, including staff writers. However, Insider spokesperson denied that the layoffs were related to the nascent use of AI chatbot called ChatGPT. Barbara Peng, the president of Insider Incorporated, announced the layoffs in an email to staff, stating that those affected would receive 13 weeks of base pay, medical coverage through August 2023, and career support services. Peng also stated that the company was under significant pressure due to the economic headwinds that have affected its clients and partners. In her email, she expressed regret about the impact the layoffs would cause, but claimed that it was necessary to keep the company healthy and competitive.
The affected staff will receive support services, including resume reviews and one-on-one coaching sessions. The unionized workforce at Insider is also affected by the layoffs, and it has been reported that the union was not informed of the layoffs ahead of time and received no opportunity to bargain with management. Gizmodo was unable to receive any response from the Insider Union.
Insider editor-in-chief, Nicholas Carlson, had announced that the outlet's writers would experiment with ChatGPT. However, in his letter to staff posted on Insider, he warned them not to feed sensitive information concerning sources to ChatGPT and cautioned all writers not to include text generated by ChatGPT or any other AI chatbots verbatim in their articles. He suggested that the AI could be used to develop outlines for stories, find typos to save editors time, create headlines that are optimized for search engines, and serve as an explainer of complex topics.
It is worth noting that Insider is not the only media outlet affected by layoffs with other notable outlets like ABC News, NPR, Buzzfeed, and Vox Media having laid off staff members in recent months.
