News is not just about information, but about information that makes an impact on our lives. News plays a vital role in decision making — from buying a particular product to taking admission in a college to joining a company. The news industry fulfils the role of a watchdog, surveilling all aspects of society. In order to deliver better news and benefit consumers in more ways, news companies across the world are working day in and out with different techniques.
To be a part of the transition that the industry is going through, Google recently launched a new project called Journalism AI. The brainchild of Google News Initiative (GNI) and Polis, the international journalism think-tank at London School of Economics and Political Science, Journalism AI is created to focus on research and training for newsrooms on the intersection of AI and journalism.
According to Google, the training is available in 16 languages which include Indonesian Bahasa, Thai, and Turkish. And to keep a track on the learning progress, Google has also added a sign-in feature.
It all started back in 2015 with the Google News Lab and this year the company has it folded into the Google News Initiative. It believes that AI has the potential to enhance storytelling and newsroom processes and soon, it will transform the news industry.
“As a part of Journalism AI, next year we’ll publish a global survey about how the media is currently using — and could further benefit from — this technology,” Google said at the first Google News Initiative Innovation Forum in London.
Furthermore, the search giant is also planning to work together with leading newsrooms and academic institutions across the world and develop best practices handbook and free online training for journalists, which will definitely provide them with a clear picture of how to use AI in the newsroom.
“Google cares deeply about journalism. We believe in spreading knowledge to make life better for everyone. It’s at the heart of Google’s mission. It’s the mission of publishers and journalists. Put simply, our futures are tied together.” Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
The forum was not just about talks and discussions, but Google has also introduced a new tool, Google Earth Studio, which is basically an animation tool for Google Earth’s Satellite and 3D Imagery. Over the past two years, the company has tested this tool with its partners and finally, they have decided to launch it. And to see whether the tool meets the expectation of both Google and users, the company is inviting newsrooms from different parts of the world to start using the product for the first time.
Outlook
Content is king and to create content that suits everybody in the world is not at all an easy task. Content creators across the world are creating stories that reach a greater audience. However, it is not that easy — challenges do arise and to overcome those challenges, AI is the best option.
From self-driving cars to robot waiters, AI has proved that it can help the human race live a better life. And talking about the news industry, Chatbots, automated reporting systems, and machine learning techniques are already in use, and they are working fine, minimising the efforts of content creators. So now, with Google’s ‘Journalism AI’ project, quality of reporting will improve and it will usher a new paradigm in the media industry.
