What you need to know
- Google begins testing "Genesis," an AI tool designed to help journalists write news articles.
- Executives from various publications that have witnessed its demonstration state it was "unsettling."
- Google states its Genesis program will be responsible and may avoid the mistakes made by generative AI models.
The push for more AI helpers continues as new information states Google has created and started testing a tool that could aid news publications.
According to the New York Times, the new AI tool in question has been named "Genesis" internally and is aimed squarely at journalists writing news articles. Those close to the subject told the publication that Genesis can "take in information — details of current events, for example — and generate news content." Google hopes Genesis can act as a "personal assistant."
Executives from the New York Times, Washington Post, and News Corp have seen this new tool in action. However, it's stated that a few of those executives have described Google's new AI helper as "unsettling."
They added that the program appeared to "take for granted" the work journalists put into writing news stories.
Jen Crider, a Google spokesperson stated, "In partnership with news publishers, especially smaller publishers, we’re in the earliest stages of exploring ideas to potentially provide A.I.-enabled tools to help their journalists with their work." She added, "Quite simply, these tools are not intended to, and cannot, replace the essential role journalists have in reporting, creating, and fact-checking their articles."
The New York Times reiterates various publications' worries behind emploring AI software in the newsroom. While some have already done so (to a certain degree), a keen eye is still woefully required as these tools can still fabricate critical parts of a story, leading to false information.
AI chatbots such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard come with the warning that the programs can "hallucinate" information. Although, Google is holding strong in stating that its Genesis program is "responsible" and could avoid some of the missteps made by generative AI programs.
The company's most recent program, NotebookLM, is designed to help people take notes and understand the facts from multiple sources. Even though users will be met with an AI helper specifically geared for the specific topic they're concerned about, fact-checking the bot is still heavily advised as the AI program can still deliver false information or even cite sources that aren't truly helpful.
Unfortunately, Google looking to possibly help those in the news industry has drudged up the company's unsightly past with publications such as those in Canada. Back in June, Canada passed a new law that requires companies like Google and Meta to provide previews and to link to content on their own platforms. In response, Google, as well as Meta, announced they would remove all Canadian news links for products.
