Current:Home > NewsOpinion: High schoolers can do what AI can't-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Opinion: High schoolers can do what AI can't
View Date:2024-12-23 22:46:41
"The Worthington Christian [[WINNING_TEAM_MASCOT]] defeated the Westerville North [[LOSING_TEAM_MASCOT]] 2-1 in an Ohio boys soccer game on Saturday."
That's according to a story that ran last month in The Columbus Dispatch. Go WINNING_TEAM_MASCOTS!
That scintillating lede was written not by a sportswriter, but an artificial intelligence tool. Gannett Newspapers, which owns the Dispatch, says it has since paused its use of AI to write about high school sports.
A Gannett spokesperson said, "(We) are experimenting with automation and AI to build tools for our journalists and add content for our readers..."
Many news organizations, including divisions of NPR, are examining how AI might be used in their work. But if Gannett has begun their AI "experimenting" with high school sports because they believe they are less momentous than war, peace, climate change, the economy, Beyoncé , and politics, they may miss something crucial.
Nothing may be more important to the students who play high school soccer, basketball, football, volleyball, and baseball, and to their families, neighborhoods, and sometimes, whole towns.
That next game is what the students train for, work toward, and dream about. Someday, almost all student athletes will go on to have jobs in front of screens, in office parks, at schools, hospitals or construction sites. They'll have mortgages and children, suffer break-ups and health scares. But the high school games they played and watched, their hopes and cheers, will stay vibrant in their memories.
I have a small idea. If newspapers will no longer send staff reporters to cover high school games, why not hire high school student journalists?
News organizations can pay students an hourly wage to cover high school games. The young reporters might learn how to be fair to all sides, write vividly, and engage readers. That's what the lyrical sports columns of Red Barber, Wendell Smith, Frank DeFord, and Sally Jenkins did, and do. And think of the great writers who have been inspired by sports: Hemingway on fishing, Bernard Malamud and Marianne Moore on baseball, Joyce Carol Oates on boxing, George Plimpton on almost all sports, and CLR James, the West Indian historian who wrote once of cricket, "There can be raw pain and bleeding, where so many thousands see the inevitable ups and downs of only a game."
A good high school writer, unlike a bot, could tell readers not just the score, but the stories of the game.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- 'I was in total shock': Woman wins $1 million after forgetting lotto ticket in her purse
- Taylor Swift fan died of heat exhaustion, forensic report reveals. Know the warning signs.
- More states extend health coverage to immigrants even as issue inflames GOP
- Wildfire smoke this year woke up places unaccustomed to its effects. Now what?
- Chet Holmgren injury update: Oklahoma City Thunder star suffers hip fracture
- Travis Kelce Reveals the Sweet Christmas Gift He Received From Taylor Swift's Brother Austin
- Woman sues dentist after 4 root canals, 8 dental crowns and 20 fillings in a single visit
- Ohio’s GOP governor vetoes ban on gender-affirming care, transgender athletes in girls sports
- Multi-State Offshore Wind Pact Weakened After Connecticut Sits Out First Selection
- Dominican baseball player Wander Franco fails to appear at prosecutor’s office amid investigation
Ranking
- Who's hosting 'SNL' tonight? Musical guest, start time, where to watch Nov. 9 episode
- House Republicans seek documents from White House over Biden's involvement in Hunter Biden's refusal to comply with congressional subpoena
- University of Wisconsin-La Crosse chancellor fired for appearing in porn videos
- Pistons blow 21-point lead, fall to Celtics in OT as losing streak matches NBA overall record at 28
- Taylor Swift gifts 7-year-old '22' hat after promising to meet her when she was a baby
- Mikaela Shiffrin closes out 2023 with a huge victory for 93rd career win
- Herb Kohl, former U.S. senator and ex-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, dies at 88
- Two teenagers shot and killed Wednesday in Lynn, Massachusetts
Recommendation
-
The charming Russian scene-stealers of 'Anora' are also real-life best friends
-
Learning to love to draw with Commander Mark, the Bob Ross of drawing
-
France heightens security for New Year’s Eve, with 90,000 police officers to be mobilized
-
US applications for jobless benefits rise but labor market remains solid
-
2 more escaped monkeys recaptured and enjoying peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in South Carolina
-
Horoscopes Today, December 28, 2023
-
Wisconsin university chancellor says he was fired for producing and appearing in porn videos
-
Lulus’ End of the Year Sale Shines with $17 Dresses, $15 Bodysuits, $11 Tops & More