The News Generation Game

There is a mismatch between the rate of development of generative AI tools for the news industry and the adoption of the technology within newsrooms itself. That is one of the main findings of a major new report which is the subject of the new episode of the Making the Media Podcast.

Host Craig Wilson interviews Dr. Alexandra Borchardt, who is the author of a report for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) called “Leading Newsrooms in the Age of Generative AI.”

In the episode, Dr. Borschardt says there are many hopes about what the technology may bring, but as yet the benefits are unclear, particularly when it comes to driving efficiencies. She speaks of one senior manager who told her “AI is making us more creative, but it's not saving us costs yet. It's actually making things more expensive. Of course, there's the hope that this will save cost in the end, but currently everyone is still figuring out what's actually the return on investment on this. And the industry is only slowly getting behind that question.”

In the new episode, called The Generation Game, Dr. Borschardt outlines a number of use cases which broadcasters have implemented to test AI technologies.

She tells host, Craig Wilson, “There are significant hopes in the industry that AI will really help to enhance journalism because of, for example, with ‘Liquid Content.’ That's the technical term. This means that you can actually have, for example, a text and then easily the AI can transfer it into a video or audio or transcribe it so that you can [get] actually broader audiences, because everyone can sort of choose the way they want to consume news and you can personalize news much better.”

The report highlights concern within the industry about a lack of transparency around the creation of AI models. She says it is clear there is also a long way to go when it comes to ensuring audiences are properly informed about the use of AI in news, with a danger of being overly transparent in this area.

In the episode, Dr. Borschardt also discusses the need for news organizations to properly define a strategy around the use of AI, and to ensure that at the heart of all of their work is the desire to deliver high quality, factual journalism at all times.

Find out more in the new episode of the Making the Media Podcast, available on all major podcast platforms on Friday, June 6.