AI Editing Tools and Multi-Tasking in ChatGPT-4

Sept. 19, 2023

One of my favorite new AI copy-editing tools is Headline Hero, which suggests headlines based on story copy you paste into its web-based interfact. 

The free tool is built by Newsifier,  a specialized and AI-powered CMS for news publishers and includes scaled hosting and updated front-end design.

It lets you plug in the story copy and settings, and presto! You have headlines. The interface includes settings for the number of characters (50 to 120), including and excluding words, and options to write headlines as questions or use quotes (which I rarely do, especially for news stories.)

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Sponsorship

Limited number of complimentary memberships for Journalist’s Toolbox AI readers are available with code: “JOURNOAI” at Rolli.ai

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I tested it last month with a story one of my UIC communication students wrote on low Chicago Transit Authority ridership during and after the pandemic. I asked it to give me a headline between 50 and 120 characters and include the words CTA and ridership.

In the results below, I would tweak one of the first two headline options for the story. I would try to tighten it just a bit. Or you can use multiple options if editors want more than one headline.

It’s important to note that AI editing tools should supplement your own editing, not replace it. Use it when you get stuck while writing. Use it to offer suggestions. But make sure to put your own finishing touches on the headline if you do use one of the options.

Quillbot Paraphraser is another useful AI editing tool. It lets journalists rephrase any text while ensuring that content retains the correct vocabulary, tone and style. It includes a grammar checker, plagiarism checker and summarizer.

Named after one of my favorite writers, the Hemingway Editor is a free, AI-based web tool that grades your writing and makes suggestions to improve it for clarity. I’ve found it’s useful for one “final pass” in the editing process to see what I’ve missed. It can be useful for tightening sentences and catching passive voice you might have missed. 

Another longtime favorite, though not an AI tool, is Thsrs.com, the shorter thesaurus. If you type in a word (try terminate or purchase) it will give you synonyms that are shorter than the word you provided. For instance, you’ll get “end” instead of “terminate” or “buy” instead of “purchase”. This database-driven tool has been around for more than a decade.

Journalist’s Toolbox™ AI has many more writing and editing tools for you to explore. Watch this video to learn how to use the ones I mentioned in this newsletter.

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ChatGPT Plug-ins and Multi-Tasking

Install and activate these three ChatGPT-4 plug-ins, then try the prompts below: WebPilot, HeyGen and ImageSearch. 

Here’s the prompt:

You’ll need to perform 4 tasks with the plugins activated

1. Create a complete and structured article on this web page: [insert link to page of research]

2.  Select 2 illustrative, rights-free photos for this article

3. Create a 100-word summary of the generated article

4. Create a video from the summary

It will take some time to produce the video. Edit the story VERY closely and reverse image search the photos to make sure they are rights-free.

Later prompts can request a Twitter thread based on the article, etc.

Note: I’m not a fan of having AI-based tools that actually write articles for you, but I treat this more as a summarization exercise that pulls information from the provided website and structures it so you can rewrite and edit as needed. 

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Want More Training?

Contact Mike Reilley at mikereilley1 (at) gmail (dot) com to schedule an AI tools training for your staff.

Also consider a paid subscription to this newsletter or donate to Buy Me a Beer so I can build more training videos.

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More AI Tools and Other Resources

• Wired: Redacted Documents Are Not as Secure as You Think
  

• Dimensions of Difference Guide
  From Trusting News and Spaceship Media, this downloadable guide is “designed to support your newsroom in creating better content by helping you to identify, understand and talk about your own differences internally.”
  

• Picovoice Speech-to-Text
  Picovoice processes voice data locally on-device without sending it to the cloud, so only you have access to it.

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Become a sponsor: Would you like to sponsor future Journalist’s Toolbox™ newsletters? Our rates are reasonable and our sponsors get results. Contact me at mikereilley1 [at] gmail [dot] com

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Textbooks

The Journalist’s Toolbox

My new book, “The Journalist’s Toolbox A Guide to Digital Reporting and AI” will be published by Routledge in December. You can add the book to your wishlist and have the opportunity to pre-order it.

The book features tips, tricks and training videos on how to use digital tools, AI, mobile apps and more in your reporting. It makes for a great newsroom guide or textbook for reporting and digital courses. It’s available in “E-book Plus”, which embeds training videos and pop-ups directly into the book’s interface. It’s also available in paperback, hard cover and regular e-book format.

Data + Journalism

Samantha Sunne and I co-authored a textbook, “Data + Journalism” that’s available now on Routledge. (Order here). It’s an introductory- to intermediate-level guide to learning data storytelling from A to Z.

It features examples, interviews, links to tools and dozens of practical exercises to learn how to find, scrape, clean, visualize and write with data. We also explore ethics, transparency and basic math skills. We even offer a bonus chapter — Chapter 13 — on diversity and inclusion for free on our blog.

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In Quotes …

“I hate it when journalists are called influencers. I am not a content creator. I am a journalist. I don’t want to live in a world of popularity. It’s forever high school.” – Maria Ressa

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