The Future of AI and Local Newsrooms

What does the future of journalism look like as AI and automated technologies take hold in other industries?

The AP is working hard toward that future, and they’re working with local newsrooms across the country to figure out how AI can best help local newsrooms.

Aimee Rinehart, AP’s AI Project Manager, and Ernest Kung, AP’s AI Product Manager, conducted a webinar to talk about their progress, discuss what they’ve learned from newsrooms, and answer any questions — good or bad — people might have about AI.

“What can we do together with tools like AI and automation?” Rinehart said. “What is possible to expand coverage and extend the reach of your reporting?”

AI technologies could give newsrooms tools such as transcription, social media content creation, audience analytics, story recommendations, comment moderation and more

“We’re not looking at any tools that do journalism,” Rinehart said. “We’re looking at tools that process and render information better. … We’re not looking to take away jobs. We’re looking to support the journalists that remain in newsrooms.”

They often hear fears that AI and automation will take away journalism jobs. Rinehart and Kung say that isn’t the case, and it’s not why they got involved in the project.

“We are here to improve the quality of news coverage and sustain the journalism industry, especially on the local side,” Kung said. “ … We want everyone to be lifted.”

For more information on the AP’s AI Initiative, click here.

Watch the full webinar here: