AI could ‘undermine’ journalism: News Corp’s Robert Thomson

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by Ariel Zilber

News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson has warned that the rise of artificial intelligence could “catastrophically undermine” journalism, leading to the abandonment of humans in a range of knowledge-based industries. I repeatedly made the dire prediction that there would be no such thing.

Thomson, speaking to industry leaders at the International News Media Association’s World Conference in New York on Thursday, urged people to swipe away proprietary content and keep advertising dollars away from “blacklisted” publications. He warned against AI programs that have the potential to

“Our collective IP [intellectual property] “We’re under threat from AI,” said Thomson, chief executive of the Post’s parent company, which also owns the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and the London Times.

“First, our content is collected, scraped, and otherwise ingested to train the AI ​​engine.

“Second, individual stories will now appear in specific searches.”

“And third, our content is synthesized and presented as separate, when in fact it is an distilled editorial essence,” Thomson added.

“These are super snippets that contain all the great journalistic efforts and insights, but they are designed to ensure that readers never visit journalism websites, and they fatally undermine journalism.”

Thomson cited “extreme revenue pressure” on news businesses and “an uncertain future macroeconomic situation”, and media companies will need to “optimize their operations”.

He took aim at the “Global Disinformation Index and its ilk” to discourage advertisers from doing business with publishers that publish articles deemed “disinformation.”

GDI, which is based in the U.K. and has affiliates in the U.S., reportedly created a secret “exclusion list” of conservative media outlets with the aim of denying them advertising dollars.

“These arrogant, armchair amateurs are exerting undue influence over the advertising spend of agencies and companies,” Thomson said.

“There is no masthead that is immune to sudden and capricious changes in algorithmic rankings that can impact ad revenue,” he said.

“Apart from that, we all rely on advertising to some degree, but some advertising agencies are unnecessarily sensitive about news adjacency.”

Mr. Thomson said he recently spoke with the CEO of a major advertiser and wondered why the company was banning him from advertising in the Post.

“The chief executive said he had no knowledge of any such ban,” Mr Thomson said.

“So he did some research and what was a really frustrating surprise was that a highly politicized agency had issued a ban on the post.”

GDI’s blacklist is reportedly being sent to major advertising companies that are being approached by a “bipartisan” organization that claims to fight online misinformation.

According to the Washington Examiner, both companies are under pressure to end deals with right-leaning conservative news organizations, including Newsmax, The Federalist, Daily Wire and New York Post. That’s what it means.

According to GDI’s website, the organization aims to “remove financial incentives” to spread “disinformation” by distributing a “dynamic exclusion list” that rates media outlets according to “risk” factors. He says he is aiming for it.

Complicating matters, Thomson said, is the fact that “journalism is now dealing with a sudden glut of artificial information.”

The Associated Press, Bloomberg News, the New York Times, the BBC, and Thomson Reuters are among the news organizations that are beginning to incorporate AI into their reporting operations.

But AI-powered journalism lacks “EI,” or emotional intelligence, which involves human editorial judgment, he said.

“For us, AI without EI is empty content calories,” Thomson said.

“Given that we are in the editorial empathy business, emotional intelligence should be our comparative advantage.”

Thomson added: “We need to know how to get knowledge to the people who know it…and we need to be more collectively assertive in negotiating for the values ​​and virtues of journalism.” he added.