Google Tests ‘Genesis’, an AI Assistant for Journalists

IBL News | New York

Google pitched to executives at The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, a personal assistant tool for journalists that uses AI to take in details of current events and generate news copy.

The tool, known as Genesis, can automate some tasks for journalists and free up time for others, The New York Times reported this month.

“If this tool is misused by journalists and news organizations on topics that require nuance and cultural understanding, it could damage the credibility of the news organizations that use it,” said Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor and media commentator.

Currently, news organizations around the world are grappling with whether to use artificial intelligence tools in their newsrooms.

However, Google’s Genesis tool can spur anxiety among journalists who have been writing their own articles for centuries.

Publishers and other content creators have already criticized Google and other major companies for using decades of their articles and posts to help train their AI systems without compensating the publishers.

Some news organizations, including NBC News and The Times, have taken a position against AI’s sucking up their data without permission.

In addition, experts say that Google’s chatbot Bard presents factual assertions that are sometimes incorrect and do not send traffic to more authoritative sources, such as news publishers.
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