When The Alligator sends a reporter to cover an event, we tell them to use their “five senses.” 

How many people were there? Can they describe the atmosphere? What did it smell like? Sound like? How high was the sun in the sky? Our stories come from scribbles on notebooks, hastily labeled transcripts and a methodical Google Docs organization system. 

Yet more and more, the content we consume online comes from a simple prompt in sans-serif font: “Ask anything.”

Many media outlets now lean on artificial intelligence to report and write stories. Papers like Cleveland's The Plain Dealer are using generative AI tools to draft articles. Major publications have entered corporate partnerships with OpenAI. 

In the middle of it all, student journalists are wondering how AI will affect their careers.

It’s not just journalists wondering. AI touches every aspect of our lives, from arts to finances to health care. Algorithms plan our vacations, and large language models write our wedding toasts.

Most large-scale AI systems live in data centers that can take a heavy toll on the planet. Electricity consumption at U.S. data centers is expected to more than double by 2030, and in 2024, these centers consumed about the same amount of electricity as the entire nation of Pakistan.

There are advantages, too. A 2023 Swedish study found AI helped health care workers detect 20% more cases of breast cancer, avoiding an increase in false positives and reducing doctor workloads.

Here in Gainesville, we’ve watched UF rush to position itself at the forefront of the AI Revolution. All 16 colleges at UF offer AI courses, with more added every semester. Fourteen thousand students enroll in these classes annually. Three hundred AI-focused faculty work throughout the university. The HiPerGator, located on UF’s East Campus, is the fastest university-owned supercomputer in the country.

Alachua County recently hired its first AI analyst. Local businesses are using tools like ChatGPT to market margarita specials and manage payrolls. Children as young as 8 years old are navigating AI-driven apps as educational tools.

For this special edition, containing 29 AI-centered stories, our reporters used their five senses to cover the effects of this evolving technology on our daily lives.

Our food reporter minced, grated and chopped the ingredients for two versions of a Honey Garlic Korean BBQ Shrimp. Our university reporter camped outside the computer science engineering building to ask students how they felt about the field’s shrinking job opportunities. 

We spoke with professors, politicians, health care professionals and athletes to ask the impossible question: What does our future look like?

At The Alligator, we hope the answer continues to be: “human-generated.”

- The Alligator Editorial Board (Zoey Thomas, Megan Howard, Sara-James Ranta and Pristine Thai)