ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Nicholas De Leon is using two areas of expertise — journalism and artificial intelligence — to provide Tucson residents with a free source of local information.
De Leon reached out by email after I did a story about another neighbor using AI to build free apps that could benefit the community.
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"Don't be afraid of AI. I think the best way to understand what it can do is to mess with it frankly."
Rather than spending his days coding, De Leon is using AI by inputting commands and exploring what the technology can create.
"What could I do... what could I make... what's interesting."
That experimentation led to the creation of the Tucson Daily Brief, a website that takes news articles from various news organizations, including KGUN's, and centralizes them onto one website.
The site also summarizes local council meetings. Before anything is published, De Leon says he double, if not triple, checks the facts.
"Half the site I am either writing or editing myself. I don't know that I would feel comfortable letting it rip fully entirely AI."
De Leon was born and raised in New York and worked at various news outlets around the city before moving to Arizona in 2023.
The move brought him from the hustle and bustle of New York's concrete jungle to the Sonoran Desert.
"I fell in love with the place... I love the people here, I love the architecture... I just love being here, it's so indescribably nice to be here compared to Queens which is where I'm from."
While artificial intelligence continues to become a larger part of everyone's everyday life, De Leon isn't using the site as a way to make money. In fact, he says the website costs him money to operate.
"Technically loses about $50 a month."
For De Leon, the goal is instead to give back to a community he says has given so much to him.
"I met my wife here, in Oro Valley technically. What can I do to give back a little bit."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Marc Monroy joined KGUN 9 as a multimedia journalist after moving from KGUN 9’s sister station, KXXV, in Waco, Texas. He graduated from California State University, Northridge, in 2024 with a degree in journalism. A native of Southern California and a bilingual reporter, Marc is excited to serve Southern Arizona and looks forward to connecting with neighbors in the community. Share your story ideas and important issues with Marc by emailing marc.monroy@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
