The irruption of artificial intelligence has given rise to Automated Journalism, that is, the automatic writing of news with minimal or null human contribution using natural language computing techniques.
We are facing an emerging reality that occupies all stages of the journalistic chain, mainly three phases: automation in the collection of information, automated content production (news writing) and information distribution, and relationship with the audience.
The automation of journalism is already a fact
During the last decade, the AI application in journalism It has ranged from news agencies to global media outlets. For example, in the case of US media, about a third of what Bloomberg News publishes uses some form of automation. Forbes has a tool called Bertie to help journalists improve their copy, and The Associated Press news agency uses Automated Insights’ Wordsmith platform for automated news writing.
In European media, the BBC uses an online platform that allows journalists to design their own automated news templates. Le Monde used automatic copywriting to cover the 2015 elections, and a bot called Tobi produced almost 40,000 stories about the 2018 Swiss elections.
In China, the Xinhua agency developed the first artificial newscaster
With the boom From automation, companies specialized in the creation of natural language generation systems for the writing of journalistic texts flourish, most of them through labs o start up.
In Spanish media
In Spain projects have been appearing progressively. Medusa is a pioneering example, of Vocentowhich uses automated journalism to generate information on the situation of beaches and ski slopes.
They also highlight The AnaFut bot from El Confidencial, for the automatic writing of sports reports; audiovisual automation on RTVE which, together with the EFE agency and the start up Narrative, carry out a pilot project for the automatic writing of texts; or the software Gabriele created by Narrativa to write journalistic pieces automatically, and that collaborates with various Spanish media.
Although the implementation of artificial intelligence in newsrooms is still in its infancy, it has begun to arouse significant business interest as a new business model.
The technology is ready, but trust is lacking
Los media feel mistrust and ignorance before the very application of AI to their processes.
This explains its slow implementation, as we have verified in a study by the University of Valladolid, carried out by a hybrid team of Journalism and Telecommunications researchers. The study collects the first catalog of AI tools and services for the communication sector.
We have found that there is “sufficient technological muscle made in Spain” of development of software applicable to the entire journalistic process, in all formats and platforms. That is, it can be carried out the entire process, from start to finish in a fully automated way.
In the case of the information gathering phase, AI can analyze large amounts of data and find patterns, facilitating the search and verification of sources and audience analysis.
Newtral already uses AI tools for news verification and Paradigm for audience data analysis.
The automated news production phase is the one in which the fewest tools are found, and the least applied by Spanish companies.
Some examples are the case of Gabriele Narrative software o Leo Robot de Dail Software for the automatic writing of news through algorithms.
How exactly does the news we are looking for reach us?
The use of AI for news distribution is one of the most widespread. It allows personalize the contents and link them with the audiencewhich allows them to retain their loyalty, and the monetization of information.
The media cares above all about reach segmented and potentially interested audiences. Among the tools observed in the study is PiperLabwhich use AI for the audience segmentation analysis; Tools for content curation y Sngular. for him analysis of social networks or trendsamong others.
AI = efficiency for media in crisis
Despite the concern of many journalists that the application of AI could put their jobs at risk and the reluctance of many other media outlets to introduce these tools in their newsrooms, the main results of the study show that it is about a development that can be a key boost in the sustainability of the media. Both for the improvement of the efficiency of the processes and for the effective loyalty of the audiences.
According to the innovation managers consulted, the application of AI brings economic benefits, as has already been verified in other business sectors, as it is mainly focused on optimizing journalistic functions.
Besides, the AI helps reduce workload by automating repetitive and tedious tasks such as the news transcription, fact-checking or filter comments.
AI also makes it possible to lower costs and increase audience loyalty.
The experts consulted draw a “irreversible reality” in which technology can help produce journalism of a higher quality, and also a “forced change” that goes beyond the journalistic sector itself.
The transversal technological and social transformation not only requires great headlines, but also a determined implementation.