Google is heavily promoting a generative AI product to assist news outlets in creating, sharing, and making money from their work. One person familiar with the project described it as significant, while another person at Google stated that it is a high-priority project.
The effort has been underway since last summer. at least last summer, but public information about it has been scarce. Last month, a report about the program alarmed me, so I went poking around for more details. And after speaking with multiple sources close to the project, I’m going to share the most comprehensive public description of the program here with you today. Let me present the facts, and you can come to your decision about the project’s merits.
Here’s everything you need to know about Google’s generative AI initiative for newsrooms:
How the tool works
A journalist initially chooses a “seed” source such as a city council, parks department, local school, etc. to cover. Using a link from that single source—whether a press release, 500-page report, or even a tweet—Google’s generative AI software generates a first draft of the story, including a lead, essential information, quotes, and more. The ultimate goal is to allow for multiple input sources. The concept is that a journalist can enhance that draft with reporting and fact-checking and ultimately publish a complete story.
What type of publications are using it
The tool was presented to The New York Times early on, but the prospect of major newsrooms using it did not gain traction. The company is testing it with a small group of small publishers, involving 10 people and fewer. Google is compensating these publishers to provide feedback and assist in developing the product. These payments will eventually stop. It is uncertain which type of publications Google will grant access to when it becomes publicly available, but it appears that access will be restricted. I do not expect widespread access. An insider at Google commented, “We’re being very cautious and intentional about who gets to use it.
What type of journalism it’s for
Clearly, investigative journalists are unlikely to use this tool, or at least, not frequently. Google intends it for simple write-ups. A source at Google mentioned, “The goal is to make this a daily practice.” They are currently concentrating on service journalism and very specific types of journalism.
More than just for news articles
The tool does more than just assist journalists in writing stories. It will also aid news organizations in creating email campaigns and social media posts to promote their stories. Additionally, there is a revenue aspect, where publishers can utilize it to craft and send emails to their distribution lists to promote products such as paid subscriptions and donations.
Many AI-generated articles are live already
You may have already come across an article generated by Google’s tool. One person familiar with the product mentioned, “Many, many, many articles have already been published without significant backlash.” The quality of the output is not quite ready for regular use, but “it’s very close,” the person stated.
The decision to reveal information
Google doesn't require publishers to reveal when articles are made with the help of AI, but the tool has a feature similar to Gmail’s “email signature” that lets them add a disclosure at the bottom of their articles.
The urge to aggregate information
For publishers, a tool that can create story drafts from a single link will be tempting to use for simply collecting competitor stories. People at Google are cautious of this use case, but the company has not yet blocked links from competing news sites. That might happen before the release.
Indicators in the initial versions of text
Google’s tool highlights areas where it took information word for word from original sources, and also links sentences in the draft to the original material they’re based on. The indicators, color coded, will give journalists areas to focus on as they write the full story. “It’s essentially directing journalists and indicating — These are the areas you need to do the types of activities you’re used to doing: Fact check that particular sentence; ensure that if it isn’t based on the source that you provided, it’s still credible, if it’s not, edit it, remove it, revise it,” said the Google source.
The major question
In the end, this project will be evaluated based on whether it helps improve the web with better stories by either allowing journalists to report more deeply or improving the quality of basic posts. There is a risk that it floods the web with AI-generated junk, which then competes with human-written stories for ad dollars and attention — and degrades the search experience — and Google is aware of this risk and trying to reduce it. Whether it can succeed is still an open question. But we’re likely to find out soon.
