📱🍽️ BuzzFeed Tries fo Ride da A.I. Wave. Who’s Hungry?
Jonah Peretti, da company’s chief executive, has embraced artificial intelligence more than most publishers. His latest offering: Botatouille, an A.I.-powered kitchen assistant. 🤖🍳
BuzzFeed parlayed da rising power of social media into one digital media business worth moa dan one billion dollars at its peak. But when technology giants behind social platforms moved away from publishing, BuzzFeed’s valuation cratered. 💥💔
To rebound, BuzzFeed is again turning to new technology: artificial intelligence. 🔮
Da company has tried all kine experiments since announcing plans to incorporate A.I. few months ago, embracing da technology moa than most publishers. On Tuesday, BuzzFeed introduced its most ambitious offering yet, one free chatbot called Botatouille (no relation to Pixar’s murine chef), which serves up recipe recommendations from Tasty, BuzzFeed’s food brand. 🗣️🍽️
Botatouille is built using da technology dat drives OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT program, customized with Tasty recipes and user data. 🛠️📚📊
Rainy day? Botatouille recommends winter chili or lentil soup. Feeling lonely? Botatouille suggests chocolate chip cookies or a vegetable curry. Botatouille might also recommend shepherd’s pie, which it quipped was its mother’s recipe. 🌧️🍲😋
“Shifting from one sort of crumbling wave of social to one growing wave of generative A.I., to me, is an exciting transition,” said Jonah Peretti, da company’s chief executive. “And I think there’s tings we could definitely learn to make sure we capture moa enduring value from one technological trend.” 🌊📈💡
Though BuzzFeed is among da first media companies to experiment with artificial intelligence, many odda ones are thinking ’bout how to adapt to it. Executives at Bloomberg, Insider, and Da New York Times are all weighing da potential upside against risks to dea existing businesses. ⚖️🤔
Da possible pitfalls include a loss of traffic from search engines, as A.I.-powered chatbots answer search queries. And some companies dat use artificial intelligence for content creation have already published error-ridden articles. 🚫🔍❌
Mr. Peretti shut down BuzzFeed News last month, but in da future, he said, BuzzFeed plans to experiment with A.I to enhance its news business, which is now organized under its HuffPost brand. 🗞️📰💼
Mr. Peretti said dat might include using artificial intelligence to help create headlines for search engines or brainstorm ways to tell certain stories. 🤔📰🔍
But he said he didn’t anticipate a future in which artificial intelligence would be used to replace HuffPost journalists. ❌📰🤖
“Even if you were, like, an evil C.E.O. trying to replace all journalists with A.I., you would be very unsuccessful,” Mr. Peretti said. “It wouldn’t work on the business side.” 🙅♂️💻💼
He said he was applying several lessons from BuzzFeed’s uneven relationship with social media to its experiments with artificial intelligence. 📚💡
When BuzzFeed used social media to expand its audience, it did not always make profitability a priority. The company grew quickly but has since fallen on harder times. It is now worth nearly $90 million — a small fraction of its peak of $1.7 billion in 2016. The shuttering of BuzzFeed News affected dozens of jobs. 💸⏬🚪
The company is now focusing on building a sustainable business from the start, Mr. Peretti said. BuzzFeed plans to use artificial intelligence to sell subscriptions to its users by providing them personalized services and custom interactions on offerings like Botatouille, he said. 💰🤝🤖
“We are much more focused on monetization, and focused on it much earlier than we were back in those days,” Mr. Peretti said. 💼💡💰
One big question for BuzzFeed: Will Botatouille work? 🤔🤖
Before attending a party on Sunday evening, I asked the chatbot to recommend a batch cocktail recipe to take.
“Hey there! Sounds like you’re ready to party!” Botatouille responded in its usual chipper tone — and added an admonition to drink responsibly. “I recommend the ‘Boozy Bubbly Sherbet Punch.’ It’s a fun and fruity drink that’s perfect for a party.” 🥂🎉🤖
Botatouille then shared the recipe, a coherent concoction of vodka, champagne, and fruit juices from concentrate, topped with a scoop of rainbow sherbet. 🍹🍾🌈
Later, I asked Botatouille to suggest meals for a laid-off digital media worker. It initially struggled to give a response. “Oops. Something went wrong,” it said.
Then it had an idea. “Hmm, it seems like you might be feeling a bit down. How about I recommend a meal that will lift your spirits?” Botatouille said. “For a laid-off digital media worker, I suggest trying the one-pan chicken and veggie meal prep 2 ways.” 🍗🥦🤖
As BuzzFeed ventures into the world of artificial intelligence, the success of Botatouille and its integration within BuzzFeed’s business model remains to be seen. However, it is evident that the company is determined to adapt and leverage new technologies to revitalize its position in the digital media landscape. Only time will tell if BuzzFeed can ride the A.I. wave and satisfy the appetites of its audience. 🌊🤖📈🍽️
NOW IN ENGLISH
📱🍽️ BuzzFeed Tries to Ride da A.I. Wave. Who’s Hungry?
Jonah Peretti, da company’s chief executive, has embraced artificial intelligence more than most publishers. His latest offering: Botatouille, an A.I.-powered kitchen assistant. 🤖🍳
BuzzFeed parlayed da rising power of social media into one digital media business worth moa dan one billion dollars at its peak. But when technology giants behind social platforms moved away from publishing, BuzzFeed’s valuation cratered. 💥💔
To rebound, BuzzFeed is again turning to new technology: artificial intelligence. 🔮
Da company has tried all kine experiments since announcing plans to incorporate A.I. few months ago, embracing da technology moa than most publishers. On Tuesday, BuzzFeed introduced its most ambitious offering yet, one free chatbot called Botatouille (no relation to Pixar’s murine chef), which serves up recipe recommendations from Tasty, BuzzFeed’s food brand. 🗣️🍽️
Botatouille is built using da technology dat drives OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT program, customized with Tasty recipes and user data. 🛠️📚📊
Rainy day? Botatouille recommends winter chili or lentil soup. Feeling lonely? Botatouille suggests chocolate chip cookies or a vegetable curry. Botatouille might also recommend shepherd’s pie, which it quipped was its mother’s recipe. 🌧️🍲😋
“Shifting from one sort of crumbling wave of social to one growing wave of generative A.I., to me, is an exciting transition,” said Jonah Peretti, da company’s chief executive. “And I think there’s tings we could definitely learn to make sure we capture moa enduring value from one technological trend.” 🌊📈💡
Though BuzzFeed is among da first media companies to experiment with artificial intelligence, many odda ones are thinking ’bout how to adapt to it. Executives at Bloomberg, Insider, and Da New York Times are all weighing da potential upside against risks to dea existing businesses. ⚖️🤔
Da possible pitfalls include a loss of traffic from search engines, as A.I.-powered chatbots answer search queries. And some companies dat use artificial intelligence for content creation have already published error-ridden articles. 🚫🔍❌
Mr. Peretti shut down BuzzFeed News last month, but in da future, he said, BuzzFeed plans to experiment with A.I to enhance its news business, which is now organized under its HuffPost brand. 🗞️📰💼
Mr. Peretti said dat might include using artificial intelligence to help create headlines for search engines or brainstorm ways to tell certain stories. 🤔📰🔍
But he said he didn’t anticipate a future in which artificial intelligence would be used to replace HuffPost journalists. ❌📰🤖
“Even if you were, like, an evil C.E.O. trying to replace all journalists with A.I., you would be very unsuccessful,” Mr. Peretti said. “It wouldn’t work on the business side.” 🙅♂️💻💼
He said he was applying several lessons from BuzzFeed’s uneven relationship with social media to its experiments with artificial intelligence. 📚💡
When BuzzFeed used social media to expand its audience, it did not always make profitability a priority. The company grew quickly but has since fallen on harder times. It is now worth nearly $90 million — a small fraction of its peak of $1.7 billion in 2016. The shuttering of BuzzFeed News affected dozens of jobs. 💸⏬🚪
The company is now focusing on building a sustainable business from the start, Mr. Peretti said. BuzzFeed plans to use artificial intelligence to sell subscriptions to its users by providing them personalized services and custom interactions on offerings like Botatouille, he said. 💰🤝🤖
“We are much more focused on monetization, and focused on it much earlier than we were back in those days,” Mr. Peretti said. 💼💡💰
One big question for BuzzFeed: Will Botatouille work? 🤔🤖
Before attending a party on Sunday evening, I asked the chatbot to recommend a batch cocktail recipe to take.
“Hey there! Sounds like you’re ready to party!” Botatouille responded in its usual chipper tone — and added an admonition to drink responsibly. “I recommend the ‘Boozy Bubbly Sherbet Punch.’ It’s a fun and fruity drink that’s perfect for a party.” 🥂🎉🤖
Botatouille then shared the recipe, a coherent concoction of vodka, champagne, and fruit juices from concentrate, topped with a scoop of rainbow sherbet. 🍹🍾🌈
Later, I asked Botatouille to suggest meals for a laid-off digital media worker. It initially struggled to give a response. “Oops. Something went wrong,” it said.
Then it had an idea. “Hmm, it seems like you might be feeling a bit down. How about I recommend a meal that will lift your spirits?” Botatouille said. “For a laid-off digital media worker, I suggest trying the one-pan chicken and veggie meal prep 2 ways.” 🍗🥦🤖
As BuzzFeed ventures into the world of artificial intelligence, the success of Botatouille and its integration within BuzzFeed’s business model remains to be seen. However, it is evident that the company is determined to adapt and leverage new technologies to revitalize its position in the digital media landscape. Only time will tell if BuzzFeed can ride the A.I. wave and satisfy the appetites of its audience. 🌊🤖📈🍽️
