Journalists Are Training AI to Replace Editorial Staff
New "AI-trainer" Roles Are Luring Reporters into Feeding the Algorithms that are Replacing Newsroom Jobs
If you have been searching for a job in journalism over the past couple of years, you have seen dozens of “AI-trainer” positions (like the ones below). Tech companies are hiring experienced reporters to train generative models to replace them in newsrooms. The definition of digging your own grave.
In a piece with the Reuters Institute, Gretel Khan spoke with writers who are training these AI models. These conversations sent a clear, but dark message. Journalists desperate for work are being lured into building the systems that are driving our industry toward its own execution.
With a full understanding of the dire state of our industry, reporters in these AI-training programs are willingly contributing to technology that is ripping apart our workforce.
“Once I entered this, I had an existential crisis: What am I doing? What is this?,” one AI-training reporter employed by Invisible said. “It felt like I was talking to robots, and I thought, this is not my field, so why am I here? I went through that crisis, and somehow I started working there because I needed to pay my bills. I eventually kept working, but it did not sit well with me.”
The writers Khan spoke to claimed that their attraction to these roles was mostly out of desperation for work. Between December 2024 and December 2025, an estimated 6,900 positions in the American news industry were eliminated. Every single day, we are seeing papers make the decision to cut staff to the bone to survive.
“As a journalist, I do have some problems with AI,” said one of the AI trainers employed by Meta. “I also know we are moving into a different job market, and if I find myself stuck again and need a job, I now have experience in AI that can help me support myself.”
It is a vicious cycle. Desperation to be in this work, a job market without any prospects, and an attractive offer from a company wishing to dismantle the very work you are so desperate to be a part of.
This dismantling is also not just an idea. PinkNews, an LGBTQIA+ media outlet, recently announced its transition to a “reporter-free” newsroom. A nearly 200 year old newspaper in Ohio announced they would stop having reporters write some of their coverage of local news. Instead, having the reporters collect information then pushing it to an AI model to write the story. Quietly replacing editorial staff with generative AI. The threats of AI to journalism’s already dismal future are immediate.
And readers don’t want this either. According to a poll last year from Pew Research, half of Americans believe that AI will have a negative impact on the news, and the majority of respondents said that AI will lead to fewer jobs in journalism.
If you are a journalist who has been impacted by layoffs or someone who just can’t find your next assignment, these AI-training models are not the answer. Writers that Khan interviewed noted that they were getting paid higher rates doing the AI work compared to their time at traditional outlets. This is a corporation built to destroy you, offering you a shiny deal to make that destruction more seamless.
Yes, outlets will continue to adopt AI policies that I don’t agree with; that is something I can not change. However, I can send a warning to all media workers about the artificial automation of the news. Do not be a part of this sad story. If you can’t find a role in journalism, look toward public relations, communications, or instruction, but I am begging you, do not train the algorithms that will replace the art of reporting. This deeply important and deeply human profession deserves so much better.