To implement AI effectively, publishers don’t need magicians on staff, just people that can teach the technology to do what they have always done. “Our AI implementations are strong because of our editors,” she explained. Human oversight is the only way forward.Ĭynthia DuBose, VP, Audience Growth & Content Monetization at McClatchy in the US, told us how newsroom staff are constantly training the bots they use to deliver automated content to make sure it is ‘fully valuable’ to their communities. Trained journalists and editors need to do the work of training AI tools to deliver what their audiences need.ĬhatGPT levels of inaccuracy are not an option for local media outlets producing content that people rely on everyday. It sifts real-world data and shapes it into stories that people want to read, but the results are never perfect the first time. Supernatural shortcuts might seem attractive but practical AI is a process. There is, however, a proven, practical set of tools to assist stretched newsrooms in their work to deliver content that local audiences will find useful and engaging.

There is no Philosophers’ Stone to secure immortality for local media organisations struggling with the day to day challenges of digital publishing. And while the promises around these developing technologies are not quite as hollow as ancient offers to transform lead into gold, they are almost as fantastical. The hype around the release of Generative AI applications has more in common with alchemy than actual publishing. Peter Houston takes a look at some of the biggest in this extract from the new report, Practical AI for Local Media.

Is AI a magic technology that will make all our jobs obsolete? Or will it be the silver bullet that ‘saves’ publishing? There are plenty of myths, misconceptions and exaggerations around the use of AI technology in media.

Supernatural by Insight Editions