According to a recent report, Google is quietly testing controversial new artificial intelligence tools for automating news production with a select group of publishers. The Masters of the Universe are reportedly paying publishers to post articles generated by its AI.
AdWeek reports that tech giant Google is quietly working with a small group of news publishers to test unreleased artificial intelligence tools aimed at automating certain aspects of the news production process. According to documents seen by Adweek, Google is paying select publishers to participate in a 12-month pilot program providing early access to the new AI platform.
Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, during the Google I/O Developers Conference. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
In exchange, publishers must use the tools to generate a minimum volume of content — reportedly three articles per day, one newsletter per week, and one marketing campaign per month. The AI tools allow publishers to summarize and repurpose content from other sources, such as government agencies and news outlets, to create aggregated news stories with limited human editing.
While Google claims the goal is to aid small, resource-constrained publishers in producing original local journalism, some industry experts view the program skeptically. “It’s hard to argue that stealing people’s work supports the mission of the news,” said Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next, who believes the tools could negatively impact outlets whose work is scraped without permission.
The AI software indexes and monitors outside websites identified by the publisher as regular sources of relevant news. When new articles appear, the system auto-generates rewritten versions in different “accuracy” levels based on how closely the AI text matches the original. Editors review the AI copy before publication but are not required to label articles as AI-assisted.
Google states the tools cannot gather new facts, limiting value for premium publishers. But some warn the technology threatens to divert traffic from originating sources and enables low-cost content duplication versus investment in original reporting.
The publisher initiative is part of Google’s News Initiative launched in 2018, which has faced criticism despite its professed goal of supporting journalism through technology and training. “Instead of giving up some of that revenue, it’s attacking the cost side for its long-tail members with the least bargaining power,” said Kint.
Read more at AdWeek here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
