AI Research, Ethics and Readiness Internship - Fall 2026

Intro to Position

As an intern co-hosted by the AI Labs and Research, Archives & Data Strategy (RAD) teams, you will collaborate with a cross-functional group of technologists, product managers and archivists to shape the future of ethical AI in journalism.

This internship consists of two parts. Each part will be hosted by a different team.

AI Labs, October-January

You will use generative AI to surface archival content for contemporary use. You will partner with RAD to design and prototype workflows that transform unstructured archival data into structured, discoverable assets. Your work will empower newsroom staff to query historical content for current reporting while ensuring all technical prototypes uphold NPR’s journalistic standards.

RAD, January-April

You will help us establish standards for the ethical use of artificial intelligence with NPR's archival content as we build a data infrastructure that remains grounded in journalistic ethics. You will prepare digital collections for machine learning and research approaches that pair AI with human editorial judgment and metadata to find new insights from the archive.

Responsibilities

AI Prototyping & Workflow Development

• Identify opportunities and build functional prototypes that enable reporters and producers to query historical audio for contemporary reporting
• Assist in the development of automated workflows to transform unstructured legacy media into a searchable, AI-indexed library
• Contribute to the delivery of a technical blueprint demonstrating how NPR can effectively revitalize dormant audio assets for new podcasts or digital series

Data Analysis & Integrity

• Analyze historical data troves to surface evergreen content opportunities and extract narrative leads that support contemporary reporting
• Evaluate AI outputs and discovery tools for accuracy and bias to ensure technical prototypes maintain archival integrity
• Act as a cross-functional partner between AI Labs and the RAD team to ensure editorial utility in all AI-driven prototypes

Archival Data Management & Preparation

• Identify and prepare strategic components of our digital newsmagazine and podcast collections for experimentation with machine learning and generative AI applications
• Assist in the development of effective data structures and preparation methods, documentation, and standards for ethical AI use with archival news content
• Help determine optimal uses of c