Google touts AI for news, insists journalists can’t be replaced

Well, we all should have expected this one, another media category we can call "Artificial News" or better yet "Fake News on steroids". This is AI-created news stories, something the Associated Press is trying out. Of course, the AI being used was created by Google, whose integrity is impeccable, so no worries on validity.

The New York Times first reported on Google’s development of the tool, known as Genesis, which the newspaper said has been pitched to news organizations including the Times, the Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal-owner News Corp.

Some news executives who saw Google’s pitch described it as “unsettling”, the Times said in its report, which cited people familiar with the product.

While some media organizations have begun to use generative AI, newsrooms have been generally slow to embrace the technology for news-gathering purposes amid concerns about accuracy, plagiarism, and copyright. Last week, the Associated Press announced a partnership with OpenAI allowing the ChatGPT creator to use the news organization’s archives going back to 1985 to train AI.

Source

Imagine you are a reporter and your assignment is to dig up any new dirt on Trump that can be used against him. You use your trusty A.I. tool to scour the in-house archives along with all other sources for all the dirt it can find, then filter out all the ones that have been used to date. You then set up the story parameters to show the "evidence" in the worst light possible by using unrelated quotes, information and spinning the article to influence the voters.

This is what I expect for the future of journalism, A.I. generated propaganda. The next Pulitzer Prize will be awarded to the computer program that created the award-winning artificial news story.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Social media is touting this Genesis as a 'tool' for journalists rather than replacing them. I think it will be a valuable tool because as I was watching CNN yesterday and watched as an anchor was surprised to learn from a guest new news that she had not heard nor seen out in the news world or by her investigations. If she used the Genesis tool then most likely she would have been better informed. I say 'informed' because her job now would be to investigate the AI sources as fact, something no AI can do, IMO.

as i understand it ai is expected to have scraped the net clean by 2026.. what on earth is the use of journalists and what media outlets wants to inject the risk of actual humans investigating and reporting on the issues the state doesn't want investigated..

ai is the perfect replacement for modern journalists..

originally posted by: quintessentone
a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Social media is touting this Genesis as a 'tool' for journalists rather than replacing them. I think it will be a valuable tool because as I was watching CNN yesterday and watched as an anchor was surprised to learn from a guest new news that she had not heard nor seen out in the news world or by her investigations. If she used the Genesis tool then most likely she would have been better informed. I say 'informed' because her job now would be to investigate the AI sources as fact, something no AI can do, IMO.

the current round of journalists mostly take what activists say and present them as facts an ai tool or ai replacement won't change that dynamic though it does reduce and remove the risks of the occasional journalists doing a real investigation in to something the media/gov wants to keep quiet..

a reply to: quintessentone

I'd feel better if it wasn't a tool, as a tool is used for whatever purpose you put it to. I'm not worried about some yak box spitting out a BS story, I'm more concerned with those who have programmed its parameters and directed it toward their purposes other than unbiased reporting, or of the purpose of some other influences.

This can be a tool for strong truthful reports or a super propaganda machine that spits out convincing propaganda at an inhuman pace.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Well, MSB, true journalism in the MSM feeds was already dead. Might as well replace it with robotic ideologue-babble.

Cheers

originally posted by: nickyw

originally posted by: quintessentone
a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Social media is touting this Genesis as a 'tool' for journalists rather than replacing them. I think it will be a valuable tool because as I was watching CNN yesterday and watched as an anchor was surprised to learn from a guest new news that she had not heard nor seen out in the news world or by her investigations. If she used the Genesis tool then most likely she would have been better informed. I say 'informed' because her job now would be to investigate the AI sources as fact, something no AI can do, IMO.

the current round of journalists mostly take what activists say and present them as facts an ai tool or ai replacement won't change that dynamic though it does reduce and remove the risks of the occasional journalists doing a real investigation in to something the media/gov wants to keep quiet..

The current round of journalists that I watch take what activists and extremists say and just present them . or rather they have them on as guests and let them speak for themselves - we are therefore getting it from the horse's mouth, so to speak - so it's then up to us to determine what is fact or fiction, and of course that will be determined by our confirmation bias' slant at the time.

When looking at the potential of AI, Blackrock and Vanguard are doing bonkers with the economic data as they are uniquely positioned to subvert every corporate privacy law they can hold.

As a mechanic doing some home work on my next automotive scan tool, having access to this global wealth of data can help in diagnosing and rectifying issues. The days of the timing light are over.

As for dealing with the realities of this world, start in you own back yard.

As for the media AI, if it can keep me up to date on local road issues when trying to get around town, cool. Some good tunes to keep me running, awesome. For some fake news, WEF depopulation agenda, I am changing the channel.

a reply to: kwakakev

As for dealing with the realities of this world, start in you own back yard.

As for the media AI, if it can keep me up to date on local road issues when trying to get around town, cool. Some good tunes to keep me running, awesome. For some fake news, WEF depopulation agenda, I am changing the channel.

Yeah, the really important stuff.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

They already do that.

This will just lead to fewer "journalists" getting paid.

Oh no!

They'll have to find a real job. The horror!

I just don't trust AI. I won't use it, nor believe what AI tells me.

News media is bad enough, AI can be even more corruptible and abused.

originally posted by: chiefsmom
I just don't trust AI. I won't use it, nor believe what AI tells me.

News media is bad enough, AI can be even more corruptible and abused.

Yeah, it is like having the WEF or its minions interacting with you. Yech.

Cheers

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
a reply to: quintessentone

I'd feel better if it wasn't a tool, as a tool is used for whatever purpose you put it to. I'm not worried about some yak box spitting out a BS story, I'm more concerned with those who have programmed its parameters and directed it toward their purposes other than unbiased reporting, or of the purpose of some other influences.

This can be a tool for strong truthful reports or a super propaganda machine that spits out convincing propaganda at an inhuman pace.

But isn't that happening now without Genesis? With the Genesis tool it will just be a lot more of the same and I'll do what I always do, just scroll on by or research the people who are manipulating Genesis' data for their own agenda. Consider the people source because ultimately it will be a person who manipulates Genesis' data for their agenda.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck
When you watch the White House press briefings, it's easy to imagine those journalists being replaced by very basic artificial intelligence.

A lot of journalists that work for the big sites that don’t do investigative work could very easily be replaced by an AI.

1. They mostly copy and paste from Twitter/insert left-right leaning alternative here or from other “news” sites.
2. The majority of articles from what I’ve seen are often opinion pieces, and since the crap they write down is so nonsensical and illogical an AI would probably do a better job.

This is a damning indictment of the state of modern journalism than it is anything else tbh.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
Well, we all should have expected this one, another media category we can call "Artificial News" or better yet "Fake News on steroids". This is AI-created news stories, something the Associated Press is trying out. Of course, the AI being used was created by Google, whose integrity is impeccable, so no worries on validity.

The New York Times first reported on Google’s development of the tool, known as Genesis, which the newspaper said has been pitched to news organizations including the Times, the Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal-owner News Corp.

Some news executives who saw Google’s pitch described it as “unsettling”, the Times said in its report, which cited people familiar with the product.

While some media organizations have begun to use generative AI, newsrooms have been generally slow to embrace the technology for news-gathering purposes amid concerns about accuracy, plagiarism, and copyright. Last week, the Associated Press announced a partnership with OpenAI allowing the ChatGPT creator to use the news organization’s archives going back to 1985 to train AI.

Source

Imagine you are a reporter and your assignment is to dig up any new dirt on Trump that can be used against him. You use your trusty A.I. tool to scour the in-house archives along with all other sources for all the dirt it can find, then filter out all the ones that have been used to date. You then set up the story parameters to show the "evidence" in the worst light possible by using unrelated quotes, information and spinning the article to influence the voters.

This is what I expect for the future of journalism, A.I. generated propaganda. The next Pulitzer Prize will be awarded to the computer program that created the award-winning artificial news story.

It's not that far removed from the last 20 years of news - newsroom cuts have meant journalists with beats and a black book of contacts have been replaced by unpaid interns. 90% of news content is top and tailed re-prints of AP, Reuters or PR Newswire releases.

The general public started demanding entertainment/action news instead of 'hard news' in the 50s/60s as hard news is boring and hard to understand; the watergate scandal and 1000s of UK private investigators becoming unemployed helped cement the switch and rise of PR accelerated the demise.

Proper detailed coverage hasn't existed outside in-house/journalism centred publications like Society of Editors, Reporters without Borders, Sunshine Press and similar.

Local news is still largely fact based and accurate as the rule is to tripple check any of the info as it's still prefered/financially viable.

originally posted by: quintessentone

originally posted by: nickyw

originally posted by: quintessentone
a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Social media is touting this Genesis as a 'tool' for journalists rather than replacing them. I think it will be a valuable tool because as I was watching CNN yesterday and watched as an anchor was surprised to learn from a guest new news that she had not heard nor seen out in the news world or by her investigations. If she used the Genesis tool then most likely she would have been better informed. I say 'informed' because her job now would be to investigate the AI sources as fact, something no AI can do, IMO.

the current round of journalists mostly take what activists say and present them as facts an ai tool or ai replacement won't change that dynamic though it does reduce and remove the risks of the occasional journalists doing a real investigation in to something the media/gov wants to keep quiet..

The current round of journalists that I watch take what activists and extremists say and just present them . or rather they have them on as guests and let them speak for themselves - we are therefore getting it from the horse's mouth, so to speak - so it's then up to us to determine what is fact or fiction, and of course that will be determined by our confirmation bias' slant at the time.

absolutely true and it won't change if they use ai as a tool or if ai replaces them, but looking at it through the lens of mainstream media at this point the last thing left or right activists need in their corner is mainstream media..

originally posted by: nickyw

originally posted by: quintessentone

originally posted by: nickyw

originally posted by: quintessentone
a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Social media is touting this Genesis as a 'tool' for journalists rather than replacing them. I think it will be a valuable tool because as I was watching CNN yesterday and watched as an anchor was surprised to learn from a guest new news that she had not heard nor seen out in the news world or by her investigations. If she used the Genesis tool then most likely she would have been better informed. I say 'informed' because her job now would be to investigate the AI sources as fact, something no AI can do, IMO.

the current round of journalists mostly take what activists say and present them as facts an ai tool or ai replacement won't change that dynamic though it does reduce and remove the risks of the occasional journalists doing a real investigation in to something the media/gov wants to keep quiet..

The current round of journalists that I watch take what activists and extremists say and just present them . or rather they have them on as guests and let them speak for themselves - we are therefore getting it from the horse's mouth, so to speak - so it's then up to us to determine what is fact or fiction, and of course that will be determined by our confirmation bias' slant at the time.

absolutely true and it won't change if they use ai as a tool or if ai replaces them, but looking at it through the lens of mainstream media at this point the last thing left or right activists need in their corner is mainstream media..

With this new AI wave there should be accompanying education on how regular people can detect what is fake in videos (which I can detect sometimes) or what is fake in the news (which I research the person behind the news or message to see if they have an agenda) and maybe to explain their methodology for same, somewhat like explaining to a layperson what to look for in a photoshopped picture to determine if it's genuine or not.

I would like to see the journalists or talk show hosts dive into how they investigated the information to prove it is in fact truth and therefore this would also teach us how to do the same.

To be frank, most of them sounded like a bunch of pre-programmed mouth pieces already.





I don't think journalist even know anymore what their job description used to be. Pretty much now, it's look nice, speak proper and say what you've been told to say. AI can easily do that. We don't need the journalists of today anymore for the most part, especially if they're simply going to parrot the propaganda.