Chris Moran
@chrismoranuk.bsky.social
Guardian's head of editorial innovation. Focusing on AI in the newsroom
I love this piece from our brilliant lead engineer on newsroom AI, Joseph Smith. If you're non-technical but looking for a deeper understanding of how LLMs work beyond the basics, it's a fantastically clear and useful place to start medium.com/@joelochlann...
MythBusting Large Language Models
Chatbots can be deceptive. How do LLMs actually work under the hood?
medium.com
July 31, 2025 at 9:42 AM
I love this piece from our brilliant lead engineer on newsroom AI, Joseph Smith. If you're non-technical but looking for a deeper understanding of how LLMs work beyond the basics, it's a fantastically clear and useful place to start medium.com/@joelochlann...
This 40m video is a brilliant articulation of where we are now with LLMs and a thoughtful reflection on autonomy, agency, software and where we go next. I love the phrase "jagged intelligence" and using Memento's protagonist as an articulation of context windows. Do watch youtu.be/LCEmiRjPEtQ?...
Andrej Karpathy: Software Is Changing (Again)
YouTube video by Y Combinator
youtu.be
June 19, 2025 at 8:53 AM
This 40m video is a brilliant articulation of where we are now with LLMs and a thoughtful reflection on autonomy, agency, software and where we go next. I love the phrase "jagged intelligence" and using Memento's protagonist as an articulation of context windows. Do watch youtu.be/LCEmiRjPEtQ?...
This is an excellent, thoughtful, nuanced piece on the role AI can play in writing www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/m...
A.I. Is Poised to Rewrite History. Literally.
www.nytimes.com
June 16, 2025 at 9:51 PM
This is an excellent, thoughtful, nuanced piece on the role AI can play in writing www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/m...
So much energy is being put into the long-term impact of GenAI on journalism and short-term issues like whether we're using the latest models. But this video illustrates the immediate crucial issue: do journalists have a basic grasp on the ways LLMs work? x.com/SamCoatesSky...
Sam Coates Sky on X: "How AI lied and gaslit me: 🤯💣🔥 Won’t lie: what happened to me this week made my jaw drop Do watch: https://t.co/mgmkvR9XSx" / X
How AI lied and gaslit me: 🤯💣🔥 Won’t lie: what happened to me this week made my jaw drop Do watch: https://t.co/mgmkvR9XSx
x.com
June 9, 2025 at 8:05 AM
So much energy is being put into the long-term impact of GenAI on journalism and short-term issues like whether we're using the latest models. But this video illustrates the immediate crucial issue: do journalists have a basic grasp on the ways LLMs work? x.com/SamCoatesSky...
“Secure Messaging is not just a tool for the Guardian. As part of our commitment to protecting the media and the public interest globally, the Guardian has published the source code for the technology that enables this system” www.theguardian.com/membership/2...
In a dangerous era for journalism – a powerful new tool to help protect sources
Today, the Guardian, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, launches Secure Messaging, a world-first from a media organisation
www.theguardian.com
June 9, 2025 at 7:01 AM
“Secure Messaging is not just a tool for the Guardian. As part of our commitment to protecting the media and the public interest globally, the Guardian has published the source code for the technology that enables this system” www.theguardian.com/membership/2...
Eeeessh. This really, really isn’t good. If user behaviour is changing so much and search is changing so much, and actually the changes are not really affecting clickthrough… why not let us see all that?
Google won't be giving us performance report data in Search Console for AI Mode (or AI Overviews) even though AI Mode is the future of Google Search www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-mo...
May 21, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Eeeessh. This really, really isn’t good. If user behaviour is changing so much and search is changing so much, and actually the changes are not really affecting clickthrough… why not let us see all that?
Google IO underlines that the battleground has moved from models as the competitive edge. This second age is about integration and with Workspace, Chrome, Search, Android and more (and the appetite to push Gemini everywhere), Google has a clear advantage www.theverge.com/news/669408/...
The 15 biggest announcements at Google I/O 2025
Catch up on what you missed.
www.theverge.com
May 21, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Google IO underlines that the battleground has moved from models as the competitive edge. This second age is about integration and with Workspace, Chrome, Search, Android and more (and the appetite to push Gemini everywhere), Google has a clear advantage www.theverge.com/news/669408/...
As usual @polemicdigital.com is essential reading: “The theory is that extensive usage of LLMs drives increased Google usage with users wanting to verify the generative AI output with actual trusted sources, turning to Google to find those sources.” www.seoforgooglenews.com/p/googles-ai...
Google's AI Adventure - One Year On
A year after the introduction of AI Overviews, let's look at the impact on publishers' traffic and visibility and what's next in store for AI in search.
www.seoforgooglenews.com
May 8, 2025 at 11:39 AM
As usual @polemicdigital.com is essential reading: “The theory is that extensive usage of LLMs drives increased Google usage with users wanting to verify the generative AI output with actual trusted sources, turning to Google to find those sources.” www.seoforgooglenews.com/p/googles-ai...
Reposted by Chris Moran
I wrote this piece on three serious challenges journalism faces right now and how AI may make them worse if we don't change course
It is based on panels and private conversations in Perugia and includes my favourite quote from @chrismoranuk.bsky.social #ijf25
www.linkedin.com/pulse/journa...
It is based on panels and private conversations in Perugia and includes my favourite quote from @chrismoranuk.bsky.social #ijf25
www.linkedin.com/pulse/journa...
April 14, 2025 at 8:40 PM
I wrote this piece on three serious challenges journalism faces right now and how AI may make them worse if we don't change course
It is based on panels and private conversations in Perugia and includes my favourite quote from @chrismoranuk.bsky.social #ijf25
www.linkedin.com/pulse/journa...
It is based on panels and private conversations in Perugia and includes my favourite quote from @chrismoranuk.bsky.social #ijf25
www.linkedin.com/pulse/journa...
Reposted by Chris Moran
And I should add a plug to the panel I organise with @chrismoranuk.bsky.social, @rubinafillion.nytimes.com & Tess Jeffers.
Now the hard part: evaluating and integrating AI in newsrooms
14:00 - 14:50, Saturday 12/04/2025 – Teatro del Pavone
buff.ly/NCJkUCN
Now the hard part: evaluating and integrating AI in newsrooms
14:00 - 14:50, Saturday 12/04/2025 – Teatro del Pavone
buff.ly/NCJkUCN
Now the hard part: evaluating and integrating AI in newsrooms
As the integration of (generative) AI technologies into news organisations continues apace, the need for robust, transparent, and consistent evaluation frameworks has become increasingly pressing.…
buff.ly
April 8, 2025 at 9:05 AM
And I should add a plug to the panel I organise with @chrismoranuk.bsky.social, @rubinafillion.nytimes.com & Tess Jeffers.
Now the hard part: evaluating and integrating AI in newsrooms
14:00 - 14:50, Saturday 12/04/2025 – Teatro del Pavone
buff.ly/NCJkUCN
Now the hard part: evaluating and integrating AI in newsrooms
14:00 - 14:50, Saturday 12/04/2025 – Teatro del Pavone
buff.ly/NCJkUCN
Reposted by Chris Moran
This is a thread of recent articles written for @techpolicypress.bsky.social that, I think, tell something of a story about AI and how we got to where we are.
March 27, 2025 at 11:34 PM
This is a thread of recent articles written for @techpolicypress.bsky.social that, I think, tell something of a story about AI and how we got to where we are.
Only just started to play with NotebookLM's new Mind Maps feature, but for journalists trying to parse large documents or collections of them, it seems an interesting way of seeing the broad landscape and then getting into the detail by clicking a node, as an alternative to asking specific questions
March 19, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Only just started to play with NotebookLM's new Mind Maps feature, but for journalists trying to parse large documents or collections of them, it seems an interesting way of seeing the broad landscape and then getting into the detail by clicking a node, as an alternative to asking specific questions
Innovation continues apace in the LLM world (where innovation = ruthlessly Sherlocking everyone else's features). Canvas is Claude's Artifacts feature. For those without access to Claude, it's undoubtedly a useful and versatile tool, especially for product ideation gemini.google/overview/can...
Gemini Canvas - write, code, & create in one space with AI
Gemini Canvas is your interactive space to write, code, and create. Go from idea to creation in minutes.
gemini.google
March 19, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Innovation continues apace in the LLM world (where innovation = ruthlessly Sherlocking everyone else's features). Canvas is Claude's Artifacts feature. For those without access to Claude, it's undoubtedly a useful and versatile tool, especially for product ideation gemini.google/overview/can...
Two things to highlight: the inevitability of this outcome (as predicted in GPT4's System Card) and the shrewd observation that LLMs, for all their benefits, are the perfect tool for endlessly voracious social platforms that prioritise novelty, triviality and outrage www.404media.co/ai-slop-is-a...
AI Slop Is a Brute Force Attack on the Algorithms That Control Reality
Generative AI spammers are brute forcing the internet, and it is working.
www.404media.co
March 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Two things to highlight: the inevitability of this outcome (as predicted in GPT4's System Card) and the shrewd observation that LLMs, for all their benefits, are the perfect tool for endlessly voracious social platforms that prioritise novelty, triviality and outrage www.404media.co/ai-slop-is-a...
“Students are not merely passive recipients of AI-generated content; instead, they are engaging actively with AI-based tools to augment their research processes, enhance comprehension, and construct well-informed, analytically-robust academic texts.” www.nature.com/articles/s41...
University students describe how they adopt AI for writing and research in a general education course - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - University students describe how they adopt AI for writing and research in a general education course
www.nature.com
March 17, 2025 at 2:30 PM
“Students are not merely passive recipients of AI-generated content; instead, they are engaging actively with AI-based tools to augment their research processes, enhance comprehension, and construct well-informed, analytically-robust academic texts.” www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Chris Moran
This post is misleading. We were testing specifically to see whether the chatbots accurately identified the sources of excerpts from news articles. We did not intend to extrapolate these findings to the overall accuracy of the chatbots.
March 13, 2025 at 4:37 PM
This post is misleading. We were testing specifically to see whether the chatbots accurately identified the sources of excerpts from news articles. We did not intend to extrapolate these findings to the overall accuracy of the chatbots.
This is worth reading if you’re interested in deep research AI tools: “Used uncritically, AI research assistants risk perpetuating a cycle where only easily discoverable sources are read and cited in research products” theimportantwork.substack.com/p/why-ai-ass...
Why AI-assisted Literature Reviews Currently Fall Short
The tale of the long tail
theimportantwork.substack.com
March 13, 2025 at 6:10 PM
This is worth reading if you’re interested in deep research AI tools: “Used uncritically, AI research assistants risk perpetuating a cycle where only easily discoverable sources are read and cited in research products” theimportantwork.substack.com/p/why-ai-ass...
Excellent to see this gap covered. Previously saving your NotebookLM responses lost the elegant citations that make the tool as a whole so useful
March 13, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Excellent to see this gap covered. Previously saving your NotebookLM responses lost the elegant citations that make the tool as a whole so useful
Reposted by Chris Moran
🚨 @newscientist.com SCOOP: I've exclusively obtained Peter Kyle's interactions with ChatGPT using FOI laws - in what I believe may be a world-first transparency release. The chatbot said "Lack of Government or Institutional Support" slowed UK AI adoption www.newscientist.com/article/2472...
Revealed: How the UK tech secretary uses ChatGPT for policy advice
New Scientist has used freedom of information laws to obtain the ChatGPT records of Peter Kyle, the UK's technology secretary, in what is believed to be a world-first use of such legislation
www.newscientist.com
March 13, 2025 at 12:14 PM
🚨 @newscientist.com SCOOP: I've exclusively obtained Peter Kyle's interactions with ChatGPT using FOI laws - in what I believe may be a world-first transparency release. The chatbot said "Lack of Government or Institutional Support" slowed UK AI adoption www.newscientist.com/article/2472...
I’m posting quite a lot less about incremental AI changes these days. But this is where most people’s eyes should be in terms of impact, risk and corporate power struggles. With models becoming less distinct and moats shrinking, it all becomes about integration and scale blog.google/products/sea...
Expanding AI Overviews and introducing AI Mode
AI Mode is a new generative AI experiment in Google Search.
blog.google
March 7, 2025 at 8:15 AM
I’m posting quite a lot less about incremental AI changes these days. But this is where most people’s eyes should be in terms of impact, risk and corporate power struggles. With models becoming less distinct and moats shrinking, it all becomes about integration and scale blog.google/products/sea...
Reposted by Chris Moran
I am delighted to share this new paper on AI collaboration in Chinese news organisations, led by @qingxiaohci.bsky.social, which has just been accepted at #CHI25.
https://buff.ly/4gCc7hb
https://buff.ly/4gCc7hb
February 14, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I am delighted to share this new paper on AI collaboration in Chinese news organisations, led by @qingxiaohci.bsky.social, which has just been accepted at #CHI25.
https://buff.ly/4gCc7hb
https://buff.ly/4gCc7hb
Reposted by Chris Moran
New from 404 Media: anyone can push updates to the Doge.gov site. Two sources independently found the issue, one made their own decision to deface the site. "THESE 'EXPERTS' LEFT THEIR DATABASE OPEN."
www.404media.co/anyone-can-p...
www.404media.co/anyone-can-p...
February 14, 2025 at 7:06 AM
New from 404 Media: anyone can push updates to the Doge.gov site. Two sources independently found the issue, one made their own decision to deface the site. "THESE 'EXPERTS' LEFT THEIR DATABASE OPEN."
www.404media.co/anyone-can-p...
www.404media.co/anyone-can-p...
This is a really thoughtful, balanced and interesting piece on practical, responsible ways that LLMs might make marking easier while retaining the core human skills that make it a valuable exercise substack.nomoremarking.com/p/the-human-...
The human in the loop
Human assessment in the age of AI
substack.nomoremarking.com
February 1, 2025 at 10:27 AM
This is a really thoughtful, balanced and interesting piece on practical, responsible ways that LLMs might make marking easier while retaining the core human skills that make it a valuable exercise substack.nomoremarking.com/p/the-human-...
Reposted by Chris Moran
Please define 'chutzpah'
January 29, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Please define 'chutzpah'
Reposted by Chris Moran
My main take from the UK government's AI announcement as a journalist and a British sitcom obsessive is that tech teams always have a wicked sense of humour when naming their products www.gov.uk/government/n...
Shake up of tech and AI usage across NHS and other public services to deliver plan for change
The government has announced a new plan to leverage technology and AI tools like
www.gov.uk
January 21, 2025 at 8:44 AM
My main take from the UK government's AI announcement as a journalist and a British sitcom obsessive is that tech teams always have a wicked sense of humour when naming their products www.gov.uk/government/n...