Behind the Blog: What Would the Pope Do?
404 Media Samantha Cole
Opinion — commentary, not a factual news event.
404 Media says it’s trying to cover AI honestly without writing it off. One writer even sees spots where the tools might help reporting, despite the harm.
Based on reporting by 404 Media, Samantha Cole — read the original for the full story.
Summary, retelling and take written by AI under human oversight; images are AI-generated illustrations. How we work · Report an error
404 Media’s “Behind the Blog” post this week turns to AI and spirituality, but the sharper point is about how the outlet wants to talk about AI at all. Jason says the team has tried to carve out a clear lane in the broader debate: cover what these systems can actually do, cover the harms they cause, and keep saying they were trained on stolen content without pretending that means they’re useless for everything.
That stance is more careful than the usual internet positions, which tend to be either breathless or allergic. Jason says the staff keeps tinkering with AI so they can write about it from an informed place. That hands-on habit matters, because it means the reporting is coming from people who have poked at the tools themselves instead of treating them like a myth or a miracle.
And sometimes that poking changes the shape of a story. While working on reporting, Jason says he’ll occasionally see a moment where AI might be useful for a specific part of the job. Not the whole job. Just a piece of it. That’s the nuance here: wary, but not blind to utility.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is the grown-up position, which is annoyingly rare online. AI can be built on theft and still be useful in narrow ways, and pretending those facts cancel each other out only helps the hype merchants. The harder line is the honest one: use the tool if it helps, but don’t let it launder the mess underneath.
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