In a pioneering experiment, Italian daily Il Foglio has launched a fully AI-generated edition for a month, aiming to explore artificial intelligence's role in journalism while maintaining human creativity. The initiative tests AI's capabilities, its limitations, and how it can complement traditional reporting.
Il Foglio, a daily broadsheet known for its irreverent tone and a circulation of around 29,000, claims to be the first newspaper globally to print entire editions generated by artificial intelligence. The AI edition, launched on Tuesday, runs alongside its regular publication, featuring four pages, 22 articles, and three editorials.
The process involves the newspaper's 20 journalists instructing an AI model, a version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to generate stories on specific subjects in a set tone. The AI produces texts using information scraped from the internet. This week's AI-written pieces included an analysis of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s speeches, an editorial on the recent phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and a fashion article.
Claudio Cerasa, Il Foglio's director, explained the motivations behind the project in an interview with AFP.
What do you want to accomplish with this?
The purpose is twofold. On one hand, we want to put theory into practice. On the other, we aim to test ourselves to understand AI’s limits, its opportunities, and the challenges we must navigate.
Our newspaper stands out for its irreverent, ironic, and creative writing—qualities that are not easily reproduced by a machine. This experiment is a way to showcase our uniqueness while pioneering something no one else has attempted. It sparks debate and helps us understand how AI can be integrated with human intelligence.
How does the process work in practice?
In editorial meetings, many topics arise. Some are covered by both the traditional and AI editions. Each AI-generated article starts with a specific prompt, including the subject and the desired tone—whether respectful, irreverent, scandalous, or provocative. The goal is to align the AI’s output with Il Foglio’s signature style.
If an article has too many errors, we discard it and generate a new one. If the mistakes are minor, we keep them to evaluate AI’s weaknesses and strengths.
What lessons have you learned from the first few days?
AI exceeds expectations. We've seen it generate content that competes with human writing, but in the long run, journalism must evolve to emphasize creativity where AI falls short. Innovation is unstoppable. It must be understood, managed, and turned into a tool for progress. If demand for AI-generated articles grows, journalists will need to focus on tasks that AI cannot replicate. This is a way to revitalize journalism, not to kill it.
Are journalists in the newsroom worried?
Not at all. Everyone is intrigued by the experiment. Interestingly, it has drawn more attention to our traditional print edition. On the first day alone, sales rose by 60 percent. No major newspaper has dared to try this because it’s intimidating. Il Foglio is unique in its ability to take risks and experiment boldly. Human-written articles remain superior because they offer unpredictability, creativity, and meaningful connections—elements AI lacks.
What are readers saying?
Ninety percent of readers are entertained; 10 percent are concerned, urging us to preserve natural intelligence. But no one sees this as a meaningless stunt—everyone understands the experiment’s significance.
With AFP
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