---
title: "Not Human: Major News Outlets Are Using AI to Cover the 2016 Elections"
description: "Sites like the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, and NBC are using artificially intelligence systems to cover the 2016 elections in the United States. As automation increases, AI systems are expected to take hundreds of thousands of human preformed jobs, revolutionizing both our society and our economy."
date: "2016-11-08"
modified: "2016-11-08"
authors:
  - name: "Jelor Gallego"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jelor-gallego"
url: "https://futurism.com/not-human-major-news-outlets-are-using-ai-to-cover-the-2016-elections"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
tags:
  - "automation"
  - "election"
  - "journalism"
  - "robots"
---

# Not Human: Major News Outlets Are Using AI to Cover the 2016 Elections

![journalism robots automation](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/A-Stockphoto-Pixabay.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: stockphoto/Pixabay\</em\>*

While many fear that robots will take over human jobs—that our future will be one dominated by artificial intelligence—the truth is that many robot systems are *already* operating in a number of fields. Notably, not all of these jobs are traditional manual labor.

In fact, one of the most prominent jobs being taken over is journalism, and to that end, robo-jorunalism is expected [to play a huge part](<http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bots-step-2016-election-news-coverage-131650404.htmlhttp://finance.yahoo.com/news/bots-step-2016-election-news-coverage-131650404.html>) in the coverage of the United States elections in 2016 and beyond.

![undefined](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/robot-reporter-900x450.jpg>)
*Buzzworthy*

Several prominent media organizations (like the *New York Times*, *Washington Post*, *CNN*, and *NBC...*just to name a few) already have automated systems that are expected to be used for election coverage. And that lineup will only increase in the coming years.

Moreover, a number of organizations, like BuzzFeed, are using bots in Messenger to deliver short dispatches and updates to users. While generating no revenue on their own, these are able to drive traffic towards websites, increasing ad revenue.

Meanwhile, the *Washington Post* is developing a hybrid system called Heliograf, which it will be [using to cover 500 races](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/pr/wp/2016/10/19/the-washington-post-uses-artificial-intelligence-to-cover-nearly-500-races-on-election-day/>) come election time.

The system mixes AI and human writers. This "allows *The Post* to create stories that are better than any automated system but more constantly updated than any human-written story could be,” says Jeremy Gilbert, director of strategic initiatives at *The Post*.

In fact, there is much precedent for this. Automated systems have already been used [in coverage of the Rio Olympics](<https://futurism.com/the-washington-post-is-using-ai-to-write-stories-during-the-rio-olympics>). Also, the French newspaper *Le Monde* [used robots](<http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulfletcher/2016/10/28/washington-post-to-use-robo-journalism-for-election-day-coverage/2/#2bbcf1cf4400>) to cover the 2015 French elections, generating 150,000 stories in just four hours.