Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK AI, Google, news media and user discretion
Juan Senor, president of Innovation Media Consulting, delivers a closing plenary speech at the 2024 World News Media Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, May 29. Korea Times photo by Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
COPENHAGEN — The past year and a half was the beginning of what could become a new way of life for humanity, with the emergence and development of ChatGPT. The utility of artificial intelligence (AI) is seeping into industries and workplaces, including newsrooms.
AI could not have been more pronounced as the key theme at this year's World News Media Congress hosted by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from May 27 to 29. The term AI was presumably mentioned in all of the several dozen sessions, even those not focused on AI, and also in most conversations outside of the sessions. This was not the case for the congress held in Taipei, Taiwan, only a year earlier.
Newsrooms have incorporated AI into data analysis, translating, transcribing, creating summaries and headlines, which enables the saving of resources for greater-value work. With appropriate guidelines, the current situation could be beneficial for news organizations — at least for now.
OpenAI’s Chief of Intellectual Property and Content Tom Rubin, right, speaks during a plenary session at the 2024 World News Media Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, May 29. Korea Times photo by Kim Bo-eun
But clearly, AI’s use is not limited to the above-mentioned tasks. The prospective scope of AI's use and impact is highly concerning for media companies. This goes beyond the dangers of false information creeping in.
The forecast is that ChatGPT will replace Google Search. This format in which the internet user is provided a direct answer by the platform or service they are using is already visible. Google is showing zero click search results, which means Googlers are referred to the text below their search for a direct answer to what they are looking for, instead of finding information by scanning through a list of links.
This could offer convenience for users, but is it truly beneficial for them? Google having the say in what answers to provide to users puts the power in the platform's hands, not the user's.
This is exacerbated by Google’s introduction of AI Overview last month. While the U.S. is the first country where the new AI-generated, summarized search result format was implemented, Google plans to expand the service to more countries by the end of the year.
AI Overview is an extension of the zero click search result method, only worse. It provides a direct answer to the user’s search, but reduces the number of relevant links to a maximum of 10.
The format will be the same for ChatGPT — users will not get to choose what sites to refer to for their answers, but only have the answer that AI provides. The user loses the discretion to choose the source of the information they are searching for.
This is concerning not only for newsrooms, which exist to inform the public, but also for the younger generation, who may end up with a very limited and possibly biased source of information.
Large news companies such as the Financial Times have partnered with OpenAI to ensure that their content gets more exposure. But what about smaller organizations that do not have the scale to strike such partnerships?
The dialogue at the congress was also on the use of copyrighted data that AI companies will take to make their services smarter. A suit is ongoing between the New York Times and OpenAI on the use of copyrighted material. OpenAI’s Chief of Intellectual Property and Content Tom Rubin said in a session at the congress that the company will not use the copyrighted material of firms that do not wish for their data to be used.
For big tech companies that essentially exist for the purpose of profit-making, will they stand for the truth and accurate information for the public? If the most recent developments are anything to go by, it doesn’t seem likely.
This reporter's attendance at the 2024 World News Media Congress was funded by the Korea Press Foundation.