The Washington Post is planning to let amateur writers submit columns — with the help of AI
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Summary
The Washington Post is planning to allow non-professional writers to submit opinion columns, facilitated by an AI writing coach called Ember, as part of a plan to increase the breadth of opinion pieces it publishes, including opening up to articles from other publications, Substack writers and amateurs.
Ember will offer writers a sidebar showing key components of a opinion piece, such as thesis and ending, as well as a story strength tracker and an AI assistant to provide prompts.
The newspaper hopes to secure partnerships by summer with the AI coaching element launching in the fall, with human editors approving final articles.
The move follows the February intervention of owner Jeff Bezos, who said the newspaper would no longer publish opinion pieces contra “free speech and free markets” and who pulled the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris for president.