Earlier this year, Google launched a new program that offers select news outlets access to a generative artificial intelligence platform that helps build news stories. In return, Google wants analytics and feedback. These publications also receive a five-figure fee from Google.
As part of the agreement, publishers are expected to use the Google toolkit to create a certain amount of content over a 12-month period. In return, news outlets receive a monthly stipend and the means to produce content relevant to their readership for free.
“In collaboration with news portals, we are still in the early stages of exploring ideas to provide AI-powered tools to help journalists in their work. The pilot tool has been responsibly developed to help small local publishers produce quality journalism using factual content from public data sources such as a local government information office or a health authority. These the tools are not intended to replace, and cannot replace, the important role journalists play in reporting, creating and fact-checking their articles,” notes Google.
According to Google, these beta tools will allow underfunded publishers to more efficiently create aggregate content by indexing recently published reports created by other organizations, such as government agencies and neighborhood news outlets.
Under the terms of the agreement, participating publishers must produce and publish three articles per day, one newsletter per week and one marketing campaign per month using the platform. To generate articles, publishers first compile a list of external websites that regularly produce news and reports relevant to their readership.
When one of these indexed websites creates a new article, it will appear on the platform’s desktop. The publisher can then apply the gen AI tool to summarize the article, changing the language and style of the report to look like a news story.
Source: Adweek
