Here's how Michigan newsrooms are using AI

Whether they like it or not, AI has become a tool for journalists and companies selling local news, like Gannett and my former employer.

Screenshot from Citizenportal.ai

In the Google search bar I entered the name of a Detroit senior who shows up to Detroit City Council to scold the mayor and his political allies during public comment.

“Betty Lyons detroit.”

The very first result returns a “news” story from a website I had never visited before, with the headline, “City Council Meeting Erupts Over Disrespectful Comments Towards Senior Citizen Betty Lyons.”

“Search every word spoken by your elected leaders. Easily create clips and share!” the website’s description reads.

The story is a rough outline of a trivial debate between public commenters that became an argument over what’s allowed to be said during public comment between Councilwoman Angela Whitfield Calloway (District 6) and Council President Pro Tem James Tate (District 5).

Citizen Portal contains ai generated summaries and “news” stories about local public bodies across the country.

The article’s lede is as follows: “Tensions flared during the Detroit City Council meeting on January 21, 2025, as a heated exchange erupted over respect and decorum in public comments. The discussion centered around remarks made about senior citizen Betty Lyons, which some council members deemed disrespectful.”

The robotic language appeared similar to Otter.ai’s automated summaries.

Otter.ai is a transcription app used by journalists and government note takers. The app has always used artificial intelligence to transcribe speech to text, but in February, 2023, its AI features became more powerful.

The website I stumbled across promotes a different AI software to compile thousands of auto-generated summaries of public meetings across every county in America.

Corporate print and broadcast news leaders are reevaluating traffic and publishing strategies with AI in mind, but concerns surrounding how local newsrooms are currently using generative AI tools remain largely unanswered.