Newsrooms can potentially benefit greatly from AI language models, but at this early stage they’ve begun laying down boundaries to ensure that rather than having their data coopted to build artificial intelligence by third parties they’ll survive long enough to create models of their own, or license proprietary IP. As industries await regulations from the federal government, The New York Times has proactively updated its terms of service to prohibit data-scraping of its content for machine learning. The move follows a Google policy refresh that expressly states it uses search data to train AI. Continue reading The New York Times Looks to Protect IP Content in Era of AI

After announcing a partnership with OpenAI last month, the Associated Press has issued guidelines for using generative AI in news reporting, urging caution in using artificial intelligence. The news agency has also added a new chapter in its widely used AP Stylebook pertaining to coverage of AI, a story that “goes far beyond business and technology” and is “also about politics, entertainment, education, sports, human rights, the economy, equality and inequality, international law, and many other issues,” according to AP, which says stories about AI should “show how these tools are affecting many areas of our lives.” Continue reading AP Is Latest Org to Issue Guidelines for AI in News Reporting

The New York Times, which is now posting information explaining its journalistic practices, recently described how it reviews news-relevant videos from a wide variety of sources, including news agencies; social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat; and eyewitness videos via WhatsApp, witness contacts on the ground or “joining relevant groups.” The actual verification process is broken down into two steps. First, it determines whether a video is “really new.” The second step is to “dissect every frame to draw conclusions about location, date and time, the actors involved and what exactly happened.”  Continue reading New York Times Takes Multiple Steps to Authenticate Videos

Facebook’s Journalism Project is creating stronger connections to media companies, the result of the company’s unwelcomed limelight regarding fake news, and founder Mark Zuckerberg’s reluctant admission that the company is, at least in part, a media company. Facebook is also reaching out to support local news and making more efforts to educate users about hoaxes. Facebook plans to offer training for journalists and keep media updated on its efforts. This is the latest chapter in a historically complicated relationship. Continue reading Facebook Journalism Project Aims to Improve Ties with Media

USA Today has launched a program called Social Media Tuesdays, in which staff members are expected to act as if social media is the only means of receiving articles. The idea behind the development is to get the employees to think as their readers think. USA Today has increased monthly mobile readership 48 percent since last year, to 25.5 million. Newspapers are hoping online and mobile offerings will make up for the decrease in traditional print readership.  Continue reading USA Today Takes Steps to Boost Mobile and Online Readership

HBO announced that it is now offering a limited selection of past seasons of its original programs via the Google Play digital storefront, providing fans with access to shows on their Android-based smartphones and tablets as well as Google’s Chromecast streaming adapter for televisions. The network is currently offering individual seasons of seven shows, with plans to add more titles and seasons in the coming weeks. HBO says the gradual rollout is part of a larger marketing strategy to “create more sustained awareness.” Continue reading HBO Offers Past Seasons of its Shows on Google Play Store