There is something new (yet another in these times) that will cause a lot of discussion: Google has pulled a tool out of the hat, called Genesis, capable of producing news articles. And he is offering it quietly to the media: I'm not talking about sites like Futuro Prossimo, obviously, but about giants like the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal.
Even tougher times for journalists?
No but
Commenting on the news on this circumstance (curiously just spread from the New York Times. Or from a part of the editorial team?), Google points out predictably that Genesis is not here to steal the jobs of journalists. Rather, there in Palo Alto they imagine him as a personal assistant, ready to lend a hand on some tasks, leaving journalists more time for other activities. In other words: the standard motivation.
How much is true? Not everyone is convinced, even in the big publishing world itself. Some (probably those still not interested in the "test", or perhaps even those left out) raised more than one eyebrow, underlining how precious and complex the work behind the production of news is.
It's not the first time
On closer inspection, Genesis already had predecessors. In the recent past, publications like CNET or BuzzFeed have already tried artificial intelligence tools, but often with inaccurate results and plagiarism problems.
And clearly the reaction of journalists has not been the best. The concerns (and anger) of insiders seem destined to increase progressively.
Bad news?
The entry of a giant like Google into this field could accelerate the adoption of these technologies, and cause a cascade effect with unimaginable results (or yes? We have known for some time that in a few years the Internet it will be saturated of content generated by artificial intelligence).
Google can insist as much as it wants, and we too can tell ourselves that an AI cannot replace the heart of journalism (and that Bard, for example, is improving quite a bit but he still has to eat a little bit of bread to keep up).
The truth, dear friends and readers, is that we find ourselves at a crossroads. On the one hand, innovation and technology that promise to make everything more efficient. On the other, the very essence of news, journalism and dissemination.
As always, technology is just a tool, it's up to us to decide how to use it: but this could become a survival choice.
