The Son of Sam would never talk to an AI.
A journalism nonprofit is hawking an AI-powered “writing coach” to teach reporting in Jimmy Breslin’s signature, take-no-prisoners style — drawing outrage from the legendary New York City columnist’s family.
“I thought that was in piss-poor taste,” Kevin Breslin, the filmmaker son of the late, great journalist, told The Post Monday about the Journalistic Learning Initiative’s artificial intelligence tool, dubbed “Jimmy.”
“My father would say they’re ‘tunneling underneath’ – and that’s what they’re doing.”
The Eugene, Oregon-based nonprofit — which is linked to the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication — never reached out to Jimmy Breslin’s family before it launched the $2.99-a-month bot, his son said.
“I never heard of an idea coming out of Eugene other than sneakers,” Kevin Breslin quipped, proving himself to be his father’s son in a no-holds-barred interview.
“He never said they could take my words and make it into some sophomoric, imbecilic writing, some second-rate nonsense. When it came to the written word, he was as precise as can be.”
The Queens-born Jimmy Breslin, who died in 2017, more than earned his reputation as champion of the common man over his colorful five-decade-long career — including a stint at The Post.
He famously profiled John F. Kennedy’s gravedigger in 1963, tangled with the Mafia, publicly corresponded with the “Son of Sam” killer through his New York Daily News column and won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1986.
Breslin, perhaps prophetically, made clear his mix of shoe-leather reporting and searing words could never be duplicated, giving himself the nickname “J. B. One and Only.”
But for all Breslin’s brashness, his unmatched prose didn’t come easily.
He famously once told feminist activist Gloria Steinem, “Anything that isn’t writing is easy.”
“He sweated it out, man,” said Kevin Breslin, recalling a childhood of watching his father agonize while writing his now-classic columns.
Brooding over the written word is not an experience listed in the Journalistic Learning Initiative’s pitch for its AI tools.
The nonprofit pushes for blending reporting-based strategies into English and other high school courses, an approach known as “journalistic learning” that aims to teach students research skills, critical thinking, collaboration and writing through “project-based storytelling,” according to the group’s website.
The group’s offerings include AI tools based on famous journalists that promise “personalized support without taking over the creative process.”
Long-dead journalism luminaries such as Edward R. Murrow and Ida B. Wells form the basis of AI coaches respectively teaching journalist writing and opinion writing.
The “Murrow” coach was unveiled in November 2023, with others seemingly following in the months to come.
Breslin is the model for “Jimmy,” the AI that offers feature writing help.
Kevin Breslin said he only recently learned about the project through his brother James.
“I go, ‘What the f— is this?” he said about when he first clicked on the page.
The filmmaker made clear he’s not a technophobe, but said he was offended that anyone could try to distill his dad’s very human ethos into an AI tool.
“What about the art of reporting? What my father called ‘climbing stairs,’” he said.
Slapping Jimmy Breslin’s name on an AI writing tool ultimately fools students into thinking writing and reporting are easy, his son argued.
“It’s noble – if they’re teaching a f—ing actuary class,” he quipped.
“They’re taking the thrill away from the imagination of some mind, fooling them that it’s simple. It’s all an illusion… They got some real set of balls.”
Representatives for the nonprofit didn’t return a request for comment.
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