Article published in goethe.de
When you browse the news on your phone, do you ever wonder if the article you're reading was written by a human or a machine? The truth is, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven journalism has been making its way into major newsrooms for nearly a decade, producing financial news, sports reports, weather forecasts, and traffic information.
Bloomberg was among the pioneers, using Cyborg, an AI program that analyzes financial reports and instantly creates articles filled with accurate data. Also, The Washington Post introduced its internal technology Heliograph during the 2016 Rio Olympics and the Congressional elections, setting a new standard for automated coverage of major events.
The effects of AI are particularly evident in the news agency Associated Press (AP). With the help of AI technology, the AP increased the number of articles for corporate earnings reports from 300 per quarter to 3,700. Today, the automated technology at the AP generates about 40,000 articles per year. Although this figure represents only a fraction of total news production, the benefits are huge, according to Lisa Gibbs, Director of News Partnerships and AI Lead at the AP.
“AI frees our journalists from routine tasks, allowing them to focus on more creative work,” says Gibbs. “It allows us to better serve new audiences and improves our ability to discover news.”
As AI continues to develop, its role in journalism is expanding, opening up new possibilities and raising questions about the future of journalism. Will AI remain a useful adjunct, or will it one day take center stage in news production? For now, the collaboration between human creativity and machine efficiency is transforming the way news is created and delivered.