CivicScience’s Post

Media Technology at Cross roads with Consciousness ------------------------------------------------------------ With rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence, a lot of news are auto-generated. Many years ago popularised by wordsmith software powered by American North Carolina company Artificial Insights many a news has been automated. But this was restricted mostly to Business, Sports, Weather etc. However with the rapid advance of AI, now even political reporting seems to become auto generated. And coupled with the cheap technology facilitating live streaming of content from any where of the world , newsroom business once facilitated by reporters is seriously disrupted. The auto flow of content from news sources has rapidly improved leaving reporters jobless. Managements may be happy as they can save the money for news gathering. But seldom one understand that this make the reader/listener/viewer clueless from getting proper ground as well as holistic understanding of the events unfolding. For eg. in the initial days of Ukraine occupation by Russian forces the conflict situation was unfolded to our viewers not by our reporters but by the Indian students who were in the Ukraine. They speaking in our channel's native mother tongue has provided enormous live reporting ( whether it can be called reporting or distress calls are debatable) using their mobile phones and social media accounts even when they were fleeing. No doubt, this in a big way give un-adultered view of the conflict horror. But has it provided a holistic picture ? I doubt, because a proper News correspondent should have provided a larger picture even while bringing the unfolding conflict . Since new rooms were getting enough bytes and pictures to fill our space and same time keep our viewers glued to the screen to watch the conflict unfolding, everybody is happy. But had there been a trained and conditioned correspondent on the ground who could understand war and it's impact on the large world order, the viewers who would have had a better, wider, deeper and futuristic understanding of the impact of this conflict. Today more than two and a half years passed since the Ukraine invasion and now the world is facing the heat much. Every thing from our environment , food security, shipping, energy availability, businesses is all affected as the conflict continues. And this bring up a vital element of the impact of AI. That is the erosion of "consciousness". AI enabled technology and news deliverables is lacking of this virtue to a large extent. Had there been a journalists legwork and critical thinking involved, the content delivered would have been taking into accounting in multiple aspects including the element of human suffering which AI technology involved content creation lacks.

Our 2024 Relevance Report breaks down the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the communications industry. Contributors Allison Agsten, USC Annenberg’s Center for Climate Journalism and Communication leader, and incoming second-year graduate student Michael Kittilson discuss how AI can help address the disconnect between the abundance of climate data and the lack of meaningful dialogue on the issue. “To effectively tell the story of climate change, we need to simply tell the comprehensive story of climate change-– with all of its possible implications for our futures. AI can help journalists cut through a dense fog of information and distill insights, enabling broader contextualization for storytellers to explore, ultimately magnifying the potential for storytelling.” Read more from Agsten and Kittilson here: https://lnkd.in/gsaH8_AX *Image generated with assistance from DALL-E.

The odd post - fact check A few years, the documentary "The social dilemma" made waves. So did the book by Facebook's founder's sister, his marketing director for the first 7 years, "Dot complicated". The former is explicit, with the latter you have to read between the lines. One thing is known - people get to see on social media (including Google searches) what the algorithm thinks they want to see - they make their money with ads, and advertiser's want to see clicks, that's how they get paid. So up until a while ago, if you were in California and googled "Climate change", it told you all the stories how the climate had changed, while if you googled the same thing as a Texas resident, Google only brought up stories by people who thought climate change was a hoax. That's concerning. I'm all for free speech, but not if it is indistinguishable from BS. I do get that the news was never only the truth. If you ever saw the video "Duck and cover", spread by the US government in the 50s, you can have a good laugh nowadays, but people back then actually believed this. I was asked to write a paper at university on journalism during the first Gold war (I studied politics for a semester), and the difference between truth and what was reported was pretty concerning. But I had the feeling that people at the top at least mostly tried to inform. Maybe stupid, but that was the perception. Now it seems like it's the wild West. I just read that the Aral sea has dried out. 30 years ago the 4th biggest water mass on earth. True? I think Google, Facebook etc should have a "fact check" button under each article. That would be a good use of AI. You can write whatever you want in the article, but people who DO want to know the truth (and not everyone does, some people just enjoy being outraged), CAN check it somewhat reliably. That AI could check whatever facts appear in the article only against peer reviewed scientific sources. Does that guarantee the truth? No. Articles about animal intelligence and emotional lives used to be written to 99% by vivisectonists or people who exposed animals and plants to "x" just to see how fast they die. That mindset coloured their findings. You look at social media nowadays and either a lot more people have mastered the art of video deception than I ever thought possible, or animals are much smarter, much more emotional intelligent, and much more capable to live happily WITH humans rather than apart than scientists ever told us. But at least you'd have a benchmark.

This story from charles B. makes a critical point for us all to remember. #Data - in all its forms - is a reflection of the person telling the story. It not nearly as "neutral" as people want to think. This applies to virtually every business... In #adtech - "data" shows that fraud is down even though other "data" shows it is up In politics - poll "data" shows how the electorate is feeling even though polling data has been notoriously wrong a lot In medicine - clinical trial "data" shows us what is healthy for a person to eat even though this guidance has been proven wrong again and again The point is that data is as malleable as silly putty but we hold it in such reverence that when it is proven to be wrong - we feel betrayed. Worse, it undermines all our faith in experts who are supposed to help up understand many topics that are above a normal person's purview. This issue in knowing what data to trust will be exponential harder as #AI expands its reach. Lesson here - data is nice but if it conflicts with common sense - it must be suspect. That can be exhausting.

Ever wondered how The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) became a financial titan in the world of journalism? When WSJ first launched, its goal was simple: offer reliable financial news to the growing class of business professionals. It was a modest paper, charging only 2 cents per issue. But its big break came during the stock market crash of 1929. As other publications sensationalized the collapse, WSJ stayed focused on sober analysis, building trust and a reputation that cemented its authority. During the 1970s, WSJ made a pivotal decision: shift from just reporting stock prices to covering global business news. This turned WSJ from a niche financial paper to a global media powerhouse. It wasn’t about just reporting numbers; it was about explaining why those numbers mattered to the world. WSJ also pioneered the "Heard on the Street" column—this section offered sharp, insightful commentary on the financial markets. At one point, traders would adjust their strategies based on rumors of what might be written in the column the next day! In 1996, they were one of the first newspapers to adopt a paywall. Despite the internet’s free-for-all culture at the time, WSJ's premium content model proved successful, showing that people were willing to pay for high-quality, niche journalism. But here’s the twist—the industry is changing, fast. As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow, newsrooms are adapting, and WSJ is no exception. AI tools are now analyzing data faster than any human journalist ever could. Predictive algorithms draft market updates, while automated insights provide personalized news feeds for readers. Automated news bots and financial algorithms could undercut WSJ’s traditional value proposition: deep analysis. While WSJ thrives on thoughtful, in-depth reporting, the growing demand for quick, AI-generated insights might push them into a corner—competing for relevance in an era where speed often outweighs depth. I wonder if AI will blur the lines between journalistic integrity and algorithm-driven content? WSJ’s future strategy may depend on integrating AI responsibly while maintaining the human-driven storytelling that built its legacy. So, as we look forward, WSJ’s greatest challenge is no longer the headlines—it’s the code behind the news. Let’s see if this 135-year-old icon can write its next chapter in an AI-dominated world. #WallStreetJournal #MediaTransformation #AI #Journalism #BusinessInsights

Worth a quick glance - a media release by The Associated Press, trumpeting their new AI-powered news service, feeding tips to local newsrooms. ‘Leveraging AppliedXL’s autonomous news gathering technology and informed by input from AP journalists, the new initiative, AP Local Lede, identifies and contextualizes the local impact of federal regulations from over 430 agencies, highlighting how government actions affect communities and businesses across all 50 states.’ ‘AppliedXL’s technology emulates the rigorous research workflow processes of newsrooms. The system is powered by algorithms that analyze data from trusted public sources, provide context, and perform programmatic data validation and self-checks, all with human oversight to mitigate AI risks.’ ‘“Our goal in deploying AI is to help expand the reach of our journalism and provide our members and customers with tools that enhance their own reporting.” ‘ I was intrigued to see that AppliedXL, the technology partner in this alliance, was formed by “computational journalists”. For anyone wanting to be a computational lawyer, the title is probably still available. https://lnkd.in/g6XZN5DX

I had never heard of the term "news desert" until a few months ago. What I learned is that it is a community, either rural or urban, with very limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level. The scary part of this is that news deserts are spreading (even more rapidly in the US). There are entire communities with no local news and no awareness of what is happening at local government level. This impacts not only democracy but every part of community decision making and connectivity. This is why the work we are doing at satchel ai is so important. This isn't a discussion about AI and whether it should be used in journalism. Its a discussion about the need for tools that help bring local news back to these communities. Our first tool turns long local government meetings into quotes and articles. So that journalists can bring meaningful and impactful stories on the decisions in these meetings to the people that they are being made about. But there are so many more tools to come in our platform. We are talking to journalists, editors and publishers about their own workflows to help us develop the next features in Satchel. Please reach out if you can spare 20 minutes- your insights are so valuable. www.satchelai.com

Per CivicScience CEO and founder John Dick, "Publishers are grappling with significant business challenges at a time when public demand for relevant news content is at an all-time high. Our new DataScribe application provides our publisher partners with an immediate solution to address these issues." Learn more about DataScribe here: https://lnkd.in/eMPuzBf6 #CivicScience #insights #data #trends #intelligence #marketresearch #mrx #consumerbehavior #consumerinsights #consumerintelligence 

Smart takeaways from the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024: 1. Fake News - 59% of global respondents are concerned about fake news. That figure jumps to 72% in the United States! This is often driven by opinions and agendas that people don't agree with, rather than incorrect information. Local TV news and newspapers are the most trusted news sources. 2. Produce Video - short form video is the number one source of news for the under 35 demographic. 3. Social Media - the bloom is off the rose, but social media is still the most popular gateway to news content, especially with younger audiences. 4. AI - respondents are comfortable with using AI to gain operational efficiencies. There is less clarity and comfort around using AI to create content and what level(s) of disclosure is appropriate. 5. Introductory rates can drive subscriptions, but heavily discounted entry rates rarely translate to full-value subscription conversion. Editor & Publisher (E&P) Magazine Alliance for Audited Media #newsmedia https://lnkd.in/eaM-3VmC