Financial Times Unveils GenAI Chatbot Trained on Decades of Content

British business daily The Financial Times has reportedly introduced Ask FT, an AI chatbot trained on its extensive archive to provide subscribers with answers to questions.

Unlike general AI bots, Ask FT offers curated responses sourced from the outlet's decades of published content.

Unique Features

Subscribers can inquire about various topics, receiving natural language answers derived from reliable sources within the Financial Times' archive. For example, when asked about Microsoft's AI products leadership, Ask FT provided an up-to-date response, citing recent news about Mustafa Suleyman's role as head of Microsoft AI. The bot references specific articles and their publication dates, ensuring transparency and accuracy in its responses.

However, some inconsistencies were noted, such as outdated information about Nikki Haley's presidential candidacy, as per a report on The Verge. Currently available to a select few FT Professional tier subscribers, Ask FT operates on unicorn AI startup Anthropic’s LLM Claude. The Financial Times is also open to exploring other models that better suit its requirements.

“I don’t think you’d get to be a 135-year-old institution if you aren’t constantly evolving and meeting these moments,” FT Chief Product Officer Lindsey Jayne told The Verge.  “But you have to be smart and not just get on the hype train ... otherwise people just play with it for novelty and then go about their lives.”

Ask FT caters to both current events and broader inquiries, leveraging the FT's archives to summarize relevant information with proper citations. It can also tackle more detailed queries, like the origins of YouTube. The development process involved extensive internal testing and user feedback tracking.

Compared to similar tools tested by other digital outlets, Ask FT appears more reliable and accurate. The Financial Times acknowledges the importance of evolution in staying relevant but emphasizes the need for smart adaptation rather than following trends blindly.

While Ask FT remains in beta for now, the Financial Times plans to continue testing and evaluating its performance before a broader rollout. This cautious approach aligns with the outlet's commitment to maintaining quality and reliability amidst technological advancements.