BuzzFeed turned the increasing power of social media into a digital media company worth more than a billion dollars at its peak. But when technology giants behind social platforms stopped publishing, BuzzFeed’s valuation collapsed.
To recover, BuzzFeed is once again turning to new technology: artificial intelligence.
The company has been trialling several experiments since announcing plans to incorporate AI a few months ago, embracing the technology more than most publishers. On Tuesday, BuzzFeed introduced its most ambitious offering yet, a free chatbot called Botatouille (no relation to Pixar’s mouse chef), which serves up recipe recommendations from BuzzFeed’s food brand, Tasty.
Botatouille is built using the technology that powers OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT program, customized with tasty recipes and user data.
Rainy day? Botatouille recommends winter chilli or lentil soup. Feeling lonely? Botatouille suggests chocolate chip cookies or a vegetable curry. Botatouille might also recommend shepherd’s pie, which he joked was his mother’s recipe.
“The transition from a kind of crumbling wave of social to a growing wave of generative AI is an exciting transition for me,” said Jonah Peretti, CEO of the company. “And I think there are things we can definitely learn to make sure we get more sustainable value out of a technology trend.”
While BuzzFeed is one of the first media companies to experiment with artificial intelligence, many others are thinking about how to adapt to it. Executives at Bloomberg, Insider and The New York Times are all weighing the potential benefit against the risks to their existing companies.
The potential pitfalls include a loss of search engine traffic as AI-powered chatbots answer queries. And some companies that use artificial intelligence for content creation have already published articles with many errors.
Mr. Peretti retired from BuzzFeed News last month, but going forward, he said, BuzzFeed plans to experiment with AI to improve its news business, which is now organized under the HuffPost brand.
Mr Peretti said it could involve using artificial intelligence to create headlines for search engines or brainstorm ways to tell certain stories.
But he said he didn’t expect a future where artificial intelligence would be used to replace HuffPost journalists.
“Even if you were an evil CEO trying to replace all journalists with AI, you would have very little success,” Peretti said. “It wouldn’t work on the business side.”
He said he applies several lessons from BuzzFeed’s uneven relationship with social media to his experiments with artificial intelligence.
When BuzzFeed used social media to expand its audience, it didn’t always make profitability a priority. The company grew rapidly, but has since entered more difficult times. It’s now worth nearly $90 million — a small fraction of its $1.7 billion peak in 2016. BuzzFeed News’ shuttering affected dozens of jobs.
The company is now focused on building a sustainable business from scratch, Mr. Peretti said. BuzzFeed plans to use artificial intelligence to sell subscriptions to its users by offering them personalized services and customized interactions on offerings like Botatouille, he said.
“We are much more focused on monetization, and we were focused on it much earlier than we were in those days,” said Mr. Peretti.
A big question for BuzzFeed: does Botatouille work?
Before going to a party on a Sunday night, I asked the chatbot to recommend a batch cocktail recipe.
“Hi there! Sounds like you’re ready to party!” Botatouille responded in his usual chipper tone – adding 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 cohesive concoction of vodka, champagne and fruit juices from concentrate, topped with a scoop of rainbow sorbet.
Later, I asked Botatouille to suggest meals for a fired digital media employee. At first it was difficult to answer. “Oops. Something went wrong,” it sounds.
Then it had an idea.
“Hmm, looks like you’re feeling a little down. How about if I recommend a meal that lifts your spirits?” Botatouille said. “For a laid-off digital media employee, I suggest trying the one-pot chicken and 2-way vegetarian meal prep.”
