This post explains why an AI assistant might respond, “I wasn’t able to retrieve the content from that CNN link,” and what steps a user can take to get a clear, reliable summary.
Drawing on three decades of experience in scientific communication and information access, I outline the technical, policy, and practical reasons for that reply and provide concrete, ethical best practices for submitting articles for AI summarization.
Why the assistant couldn’t retrieve the CNN link
When an AI says it cannot retrieve a link, that message is shorthand for a set of access and processing limitations rather than a statement about the article’s importance or relevance.
Understanding these constraints helps users provide the input an AI needs to produce a high-quality summary.
Two broad issues typically prevent retrieval: technical access barriers and information‑use policies enforced by the system.
Technical and policy reasons
Technical reasons include site protections such as paywalls, dynamic JavaScript rendering that the model can’t execute, geolocation restrictions, or blocking via robots.txt and API rate limits.
Additionally, the assistant may not have live browsing capabilities or external network access in the deployment you’re using.
Policy reasons reflect design choices that protect copyright, privacy, and user safety.
Many systems are configured to decline fetching full articles from proprietary news sites or to avoid actions that could violate terms of service.
How to get a fast, accurate AI summary
To receive a useful summary when the assistant can’t fetch a link, supply the core content directly and give the model clear instructions about the desired output.
This approach is quicker and more reliable than relying on link retrieval.
Below are practical steps and a checklist you can use before requesting a summary.
Best practices for submitting article text
Provide the article text—copy and paste the full article (or the relevant excerpt) into your prompt.
If the article is long, indicate which sections matter most.
Tell the assistant the summary length and style, for example: 10 sentences in journalistic tone, a 150‑word executive summary, or bullet‑point key findings for policy makers.
Privacy, copyright, and ethical considerations
Even when pasting text, be mindful of copyright and privacy.
Summarization typically falls under fair use for commentary and analysis, but distribution of full copyrighted text may not.
If the content is behind a paywall or not your own, consider linking and providing a short excerpt while requesting a summary or analysis.
Respect permissions: if the material is proprietary, obtain the author’s or publisher’s consent before sharing broadly or republishing AI outputs.
When to request additional verification
If the summary will inform decisions—scientific, legal, or clinical—ask the AI to provide source citations, quotes, and uncertainty estimates.
Request that it flag statements it could not independently verify.
Follow up with primary sources when accuracy is critical.
The assistant’s request for the article text is a practical prompt to collaborate.
Provide the content you want summarized, specify format and tone, and be mindful of copyright and privacy.
Here is the source article for this story: The federal government used to keep track of extreme weather disasters. Now it’s up to a nonprofit