Cup of Chisme: How Should We Use AI?

The first time I used ChatGPT was after a friend told me it could create a trip itinerary.

As much as I love planning, I hate planning what to do on trips. So, I used it. Since then, I’ve used it to plan my wedding and for quick dinner ideas.

But what about at work? Could it help? Would it be bad? What value could it add?

Our newsroom is grappling with those questions and many more. We are working on developing a policy for how our reporters and staff should and shouldn’t use AI. We plan to make the policy public.

This week, we published a conversation between our reporters and editors about the pros and cons of AI in newsrooms.

You can listen to our conversation here.

What do you think we should do? We’d love to hear from you. You can contact me at andrea.sanchez@voiceofsandiego.org.

‘I’m Alive, I’m Doing Well’

For the first time in more than two years, former County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher made a public appearance on Friday, Sept. 12.

Now that the case against him has been dismissed, he said he felt it was right to make a statement and “just let people know I’m alive, I’m doing well, in so many ways we’re doing great.”

His voice broke as he finished that sentence and his wife, Lorena Gonzalez, sitting next to him, rubbed his back reassuringly and held his arm.

Last month, a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by former MTS employee Grecia Figueroa. She accused him of sexual assault and sexual harassment. Fletcher always maintained their interactions were consensual.

“I let myself be pulled into something that should have never happened,” he said. “I should have never got myself in a situation where someone could make these claims against me. It’ll perhaps go down as the greatest sex scandal in history that didn’t involve any sex. A consensual kiss, and some embarrassing messages. But it was wrong.”

He explained that he resigned from the Board of Supervisors to focus on the work that needed to be done at home with his family and wife and to deal with trauma he endured during his childhood and in combat. He said he does not plan to return to politics.

“The thought of returning makes me nauseous,” he said.

Fletcher is still moving forward with the defamation case against Figueroa.

On Friday afternoon, Figueroa sent us a statement saying, “I hope healing for anyone who’s gone through trauma, but real healing can only begin by telling the truth.”

She said she plans to file an appeal.

More Chisme to Start Your Week

Our reporters have been crushing it lately. They are keeping me busy, which is why sometimes I miss my newsletter. Sorry to my loyal readers. But here are some of the great stories they published this week:

• Our Tigist Layne was the first to report that Encinitas Councilmember Luke Shaffer was charged with a felony and two misdemeanors. She wrote a profile on the newly elected councilmember and later reported more details about what led to the charges.
• Another scoop: Jakob McWhinney learned that San Diego Unified is getting rid of middle school grades at some of the district’s K-8 schools.
• And another one: Lisa Halverstadt learned that the city of San Diego has hit pause on a program that allowed the city to force the county to provide care for people who churn in and out of hospital rooms and jails.

The post Cup of Chisme: How Should We Use AI? appeared first on Voice of San Diego.