News site's 'AI tool to provide diverse opinions' accidentally defends white supremacist group KKK

The online version of the Los Angeles Times , a US daily newspaper, was equipped with a new AI feature called ' Insight ' on March 3, 2025. Insight is a tool that uses AI to provide opinions from different perspectives on the content of articles, but it has been reported that immediately after its installation, it displayed opinions defending the American white supremacist group ' KKK .'

MAGA Newspaper Owner's AI Bot Defends KKK
https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-newspaper-owners-ai-bot-defends-kkk/

LA Times Uses AI to Provide 'Different Views' on the KKK
https://futurism.com/la-times-ai-kkk

In an open letter on March 3, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong announced that articles written from a particular perspective would be labeled 'Voices' to distinguish them from news articles that report only facts. In addition, the company has released a new feature called 'Insights' that introduces opinions from other perspectives generated by AI in some articles labeled 'Voices.'

Insights analyzes content labeled with Voices, identifies where the opinions expressed fall on the political spectrum, and offers different perspectives based on a variety of sources. AI-generated opinions are not reviewed by Los Angeles Times journalists and do not make any judgments about the quality of the journalism or the viewpoints they support. Soon-Shiong said, 'We believe that providing more diverse perspectives supports our journalistic mission and helps our readers understand the issues facing the country.'

In response, Matt Hamilton, vice president of the LA Times Guild , the labor organization for the Los Angeles Times, criticized the move in a statement to other companies, saying, 'We do not believe that an approach based on AI-generated analysis that has not been vetted by editorial staff will enhance the credibility of the media. If anything, this tool has the potential to further erode trust in the news.'

Insights was introduced under an owner who promotes the use of AI, but it was pointed out that the generated views included 'content defending the white supremacist group, the KKK.'

The issue was an added comment to the following article published by the Los Angeles Times on February 25th: 'In February 1925, four KKK members were elected to the Anaheim , California, city council, but were recalled due to opposition from residents and the local newspaper.'

100 years ago, Anaheim recalled its KKK city council. Why don't we remember? - Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-02-25/anaheim-ku-klux-klan-council-recall-1925

New York Times reporter Ryan Mack pointed out that Insights had added a comment that seemed to defend the KKK, saying, 'Local historical accounts often portray the 1920s KKK as a product of 'white Protestant culture' responding to social change, rather than as a clearly hate-based movement, and sometimes minimize its ideological threat.' The comment also noted that some people believe there is no 'official evidence' that the KKK was bad.

Earlier today the LA Times had AI-generated counterpoints to a column from @gustavoarellano.bsky.social. His piece argued that Anaheim, the city he grew up in, should not forget its KKK past.

The AI 'well, actually'-ed the KKK. It has since been taken off the piece.

www.latimes.com/california/s...

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— Ryan Mac 🙃 ( @rmac.bsky.social ) March 4, 2025 14:34

The Insights comment was removed from the article within hours of being flagged, but Insights was still enabled on other articles labeled with Voices at the time of writing. The Los Angeles Times communications team did not respond to media inquiries.