An Italian newspaper claims to be the first worldwide to release an edition entirely generated by artificial intelligence.
Il Foglio, a conservative-liberal daily, introduced this initiative as part of a month-long journalistic experiment designed to illustrate how AI technology influences our work and everyday routines, according to its editor.
The four-page insert, called Il Foglio AI, has been integrated into the paper’s slim broadsheet format and is on sale both at newsstands and online from Tuesday. “It will be the first daily sold at newsstands to be created exclusively by artificial intelligence,” the editor said. “For everything: the writing, the headlines, the quotes, the summaries, and sometimes the humor.” He added that journalists only asked questions using an AI instrument and reviewed the resulting answers.
This experiment comes at a time when news organizations worldwide are grappling with the question of how to incorporate AI into their operations. Earlier this month, reports emerged that BBC News plans to use AI to offer more personalized content to the public.
The front page of the debut Il Foglio AI highlights a story concerning the US president, Donald Trump, and discusses the “paradox of Italian Trumpians”—namely how they oppose cancel culture yet choose to either overlook or celebrate behaviors from their idol in the US that resemble a dictator from a banana republic.
The page also includes a column titled “Putin, the 10 betrayals,” which details two decades of unfulfilled promises, violated agreements, and pledges snubbed by Vladimir Putin.
In an unusual upbeat report about Italy’s economy, another article references recent data from Istat regarding income distribution, suggesting the nation is undergoing change that is not necessarily negative, as about 750,000 workers have benefited from wage increases resulting from income tax reform.
Another page features a discussion on “situationships” and how many young Europeans are opting out of stable romances.
These pieces are direct, well-structured, and largely free of grammatical issues. Nevertheless, none of the articles includes direct quotations from humans.
The final page features letters to the editor, all generated by AI, including one query about whether AI might eventually make humans “useless.” The AI-generated response reads: “AI is a significant innovation, but it still can’t order a coffee without messing up the sugar.”
Portrayed as an authentic newspaper covering news, debate, and bold statements, Il Foglio AI stands as an experiment to demonstrate how AI might work in practice and poses questions about using this technology for daily news production.
“It’s just another version of Il Foglio made with intelligence, so don’t call it artificial,” said the editor.