At a time when major strikes are happening in Hollywood over the use of AI in film writing amongst various other issues, Google has introduced an AI that can alter journalism. Google’s Bard is already a successful generative AI tool but the Alphabet-owned company has introduced a new tool which can write news articles. The AI tool titled ‘Genesis’ is being pitched to news organizations like The New York Time and more to generate news articles.
Journalism about to change?
Why have hardworking journalists investigate matters which affect the general public to bring forward the truth when you can type in some easy prompts and get a news article in no time? The New York Times exclusive story reveals that the Genesis AI tool has the ability to create written content using data provided to it. The AI is capable of handling content from different genres and can churn out content based on any topic, be it current events or any other forms of information.
The New York Times is only one of the few organizations who has seen the demonstrations of this tool. Google has the belief that the tool can act as a personal assistant for journalists by automating few tasks, in turn making it easier to focus on other responsibilities. A Google spokesperson was quoted saying that the tool is not intended to, and can neither replace the essential role of journalists.
Google views Genesis as a responsible tool which can prevent the publishing industry from facing challenges generative AI. However, I don’t really belief issues caused by one AI can be solved by another.
Several journalists who witnessed Google’s presentation of the AI deemed it unsettling. Reports suggest that the presentation easily ignores the hard work and dedication which goes into creating well-crafted news articles. For now, Google’s AI tool remains in the testing stage, and in my opinion should be shelved entirely as the fourth pillar of democracy i.e. Journalism should not be rested on the wobbly shoulders of artificial intelligence.