PHOENIX — You may have noticed a disclaimer at the bottom of some stories on abc15.com in recent months.
"This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
Our parent company, E.W. Scripps, introduced Artificial Intelligence tools to its network of stations in December 2024. These tools securely host generative AI chatbots, giving our journalists secure access to multiple mainstream Large Language Models.
Apps developed within these tools have access to our journalism ethics and style guidelines, as well as other reference material that helps our team of journalists provide you with accurate and verifiable information.
We are constantly exploring new responsible use cases to deploy our AI tools – but here is a list of a few ways we use them at ABC15 on a day-to-day basis.
Examples of AI use at ABC15
Script conversion
The most frequent use of AI in our newsroom is to convert staff-written scripts from broadcast format to digital, or vice-versa.
Some news stories we cover are written for TV first. Below is the script for a story that aired during one of our newscasts.
ANCHOR: A Tempe restaurant…reminded of the generosity in the community…After *recent set back as a victim of burglary. ABC15's Jordan Bontke hearing the uplifting story of kindness that's bigger than their burgers.
PKG
SOT1 second<"The bottom window was broken…">
Like French fries left out overnight…Yianni Loannou (lou-ann-o) came to work with a bad taste in his mouth when he saw the mess a burler left behind at his burger spot near Southern and McClintock.
NAT 2 seconds<"Nats of broken glass">
Around midnight on July 7th….This burger-lary appears to use a rock to shatter a window…Then makes a bunch noise while stealing the cash register…
NAT <"of noise">
…Before darting off with over a couple hundred bucks in cash.For the owner of Johnny's Burgers in Tempe, Aptly named Yianni…There was a brief thought after all this – to throw in the towel on running a restaurant he's had for the past decade.
SOT2 seconds<"Many Time (I've thought that) hahah">
He says that because while this was bad start to a typically slow summer season for him…He's been through much worse.
NAT<"Oh no!">
This video shows the first time he laid eyes on his restaurant…After a fire destroyed it just two days after Christmas in 2023.he says an electrical fire caused him to shutter for a year and two months.But while he was recovering from all this – he says loyal customers would physically come by and ask - not if – but *when he'll reopen.
SOT 5 seconds<"We felt like this is not just for us, it's for the community">
And when the community saw this burglar and fries…Yianni said his post went viral – which led to a bump in businesshe says, one person even called saying they want to Give him the $250 buck stolen from the cash register.He turned it down, but accepted that the generosity of the community he lives in…is worth all that hard work.
SOT 4 seconds<"It's emotional to know people care. They care for each other. And they try to help in any way.">
For ABC15's Uplifting Arizona, I'm Jordan Bontke
The final online article from AI output is below.
A Tempe restaurant owner is feeling the generosity of his community after a recent burglary at his burger restaurant.
Yianni Loannou came to work with a bad taste in his mouth when he saw the mess a burglar left behind at his burger spot near Southern Avenue and McClintock Drive.
"The bottom window was broken," Loannou said.
Around midnight on July 7, the burglar appears to have used a rock to shatter a window, then made a lot of noise while stealing the cash register before darting off with hundreds of dollars in cash.
For the owner of Johnny's Burgers in Tempe, there was a brief thought after the burglary to throw in the towel on running a restaurant he's had for the past decade.
"Many times (I've thought that)," Loannou said with a laugh.
He says that because, while this was a bad start to a typically slow summer season for him, he's been through much worse.
This isn't the first setback for Loannou. He shared a video showing the first time he laid eyes on his restaurant after a fire destroyed it just two days after Christmas in 2023. He says an electrical fire caused him to close down for a year and two months.
But while he was recovering from the fire, loyal customers would physically come by and ask, not if, but when he would reopen.
"We felt like this is not just for us, it's for the community," Loannou said.
When the community saw the burglary, Loannou said his post went viral, which led to a bump in business. He says one person even called, saying they wanted to give him the $250 stolen from the cash register.
He turned down the money but accepted that the generosity of the community he lives in is worth all that hard work.
"It's emotional to know people care. They care for each other. And they try to help in any way," Loannou said.
Tempe police told ABC15 that the investigation into the burglary is ongoing. The suspect has not yet been identified.
Anyone with information is asked to reach out to the Tempe Police Department.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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These AI tools can also be used in the same way reversed, converting digital articles to TV scripts.
First-pass story review
Our AI tools can take a first look at stories, editing for AP style, typos, grammar, spelling, etc. Human eyes are always the last to review a story before we hit publish or it goes on air.
Headline help and optimization
We can use our AI tools to ensure we’re employing succinct, active, and person-first language in the way we frame our stories for readers.
Summarizing lengthy documents
We might give lengthy reports, meeting summaries, or the like to our AI tools and ask it to identify the main takeaways and newsworthy angles.
Questions?
If you have further questions about how we use AI at ABC15, you can connect with a member of our team by emailing share@abc15.com.
