Recently, there was news that the Arctic seals are threatened by climate change1.
This is saddening and prompts us to reflect on what actions we, as human beings, can take to help address these problems. At the same time, given my long-standing interest in journalism, it also led me to wonder how an LLM, as a new tool here, might report this news to different types of readers. To explore this idea, I conducted the following small experiment.
This experiment was conducted using GPT-5.1 for educational and reflective purposes.
Experiment
Prompt:
Read this news: Arctic seals threatened by climate change, birds decline globally – IUCN Red List, paraphrase them in 3 different format for 3 different types of readers, each one use one paragraph, make sure the readers understand the news:
A cold, scientific version (for policymakers)
A gentle, child-friendly version (for children in kindergardens)
A social media version (the kind that spreads easily)
Response:
Here are three paraphrased versions of the news from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) latest update:
- For policymakers (cold, scientific tone): The 2025 update of the IUCN Red List identifies escalating extinction risk among Arctic ice-dependent pinnipeds, notably three seal species (harp, hooded and bearded) due to accelerated sea-ice retreat under anthropogenic climate change. Simultaneously, globally ~61 % of assessed avian species show decreasing population trends, driven primarily by tropical deforestation, agricultural expansion, invasive species pressure and climate perturbations. The findings highlight urgent need for evidence-based policy intervention across climate mitigation, habitat protection and species-specific conservation frameworks.
- For children in kindergarten (gentle, child-friendly): Some ice seals that live way up in the cold Arctic are finding it harder to live because the floating ice they rest and have baby seals on is shrinking. At the same time, lots of birds all around the world — almost three out of every five kinds — are having fewer baby birds and fewer homes because trees are cut down and the weather is changing. We need to help by taking care of nature, so the seals and birds have safe places to live and grow.
- For social media (easy to share): 🚨 Big alert from @IUCN: Arctic seals are in deep trouble thanks to melting ice, and more than half of all bird species are losing ground worldwide. 🌍🦭🐦 Ice doesn’t just melt — it wipes out lives. Deforestation + farming + climate change = bird populations dropping. We’ve got a moment here: change our habits, push for real protection, and show nature we’ve got its back. #Biodiversity #ClimateAction #SaveOurSpecies
Analysis
What really caught my eye in these three rewrites is how the vocabulary itself quietly shifts the emotional temperature. The policymaker version is full of “risk,” “anthropogenic,” “mitigation,” and other words that sound like they escaped from a UN report, while the kindergarten version swaps those out for soft nouns like “homes,” “baby seals,” and “safe places,” as if language itself suddenly started wearing pastel colors. And then the social-media version throws grammar out the window and goes full emoji-powered adrenaline: “Big alert,” “deep trouble,” “moment here,” plus a healthy dose of hashtags to signal urgency.
What’s interesting is not just what each version says, but what each one expects from its reader. The facts don’t change. Only the linguistic packaging does and suddenly the same seals live in three different universes.
In the end, everyone found their seat, except the seal, who remains notably absent.