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The New York Times cites anonymous sources in a report saying Google demonstrated Genesis for media execs from the Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal owner News Corp, presenting “responsible” technology that takes in facts and spits out news copy. Two execs mentioned in the article “said it seemed to take for granted the effort that went into producing accurate and artful news stories,” while another saw it as more of a personal assistant / helper.
Asked about the report, Google spokesperson Jenn Crider provided the following statement to The Verge:
In partnership with news publishers, especially smaller publishers, we’re in the earliest stages of exploring ideas to potentially provide AI-enabled tools to help journalists with their work. For instance, AI-enabled tools could assist journalists with options for headlines or different writing styles. Our goal is to give journalists the choice of using these emerging technologies in a way that enhances their work and productivity, just like we’re making assistive tools available for people in Gmail and in Google Docs. Quite simply these tools are not intended to, and cannot, replace the essential role journalists have in reporting, creating, and fact-checking their articles.
Without seeing it, judging the responsibility of the tool is difficult. but the examples of CNET / Red Ventures and, more recently, a flawed Star Wars list posted to io9 by its owners at G/O Media show the weaknesses of trying to use machines to boldly make the mistakes that human journalists are already more than capable of making on our own, thank you.
We’ve seen Bard and the Journal recently reported that even Google’s AI model for hospitals “included more inaccurate or irrelevant content in its responses” than real doctors in testing. Other than that, Google’s fickle attention span for new products (we have a list) is presumably a concern for anyone considering the tool.
Also, in case anyone forgot, the media industry as a whole has more than a few issues with Google, no matter how many promises are made about Google News exposure for local papers. The media has tried organizing to negotiate against Google, there was the whole AMP fiasco, and newspaper giant Gannett is suing Google in federal court, saying that its adtech monopolies have hurt local news.
