Google is testing a product that uses artificial intelligence technology to produce news stories, pitching it to news organisations including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal’s owner, News Corp, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The tool, known internally by the working title Genesis, can take in information — details of current events, for example — and generate news copy, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the product.
One of the three people familiar with the product said that Google believed it could serve as a kind of personal assistant for journalists, automating some tasks to free up time for others, and that the company saw it as responsible technology that could help steer the publishing industry away from the pitfalls of generative AI.
Some executives who saw Google’s pitch described it as unsettling, asking not to be identified discussing a confidential matter. Two people said it seemed to take for granted the effort that went into producing accurate and artful news stories.
A Google spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Times and the Post declined to comment.
“We have an excellent relationship with Google, and we appreciate Sundar Pichai’s long-term commitment to journalism,” a News Corp spokesperson said in a statement, referring to Google’s CEO.
Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor and media commentator, said Google’s new tool, as described, had potential upsides and downsides.
“If this technology can deliver factual information reliably, journalists should use the tool,” said Jarvis, director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.
“If, on the other hand, it is misused by journalists and news organisations on topics that require nuance and cultural understanding,” he continued, “then it could damage the credibility not only of the tool but of the news organisations that use it.”
News organisations around the world are grappling with whether to use artificial intelligence tools in their newsrooms. Many, including the Times, NPR and Insider, have notified employees that they intend to explore potential uses of AI to see how it might be responsibly applied to the high-stakes realm of news, where seconds count and accuracy is paramount.
But Google’s new tool is sure to spur anxiety, too, among journalists who have been writing their own articles for centuries. Some news organisations, including The Associated Press, have long used AI to generate stories about matters including corporate earnings reports, but they remain a small fraction of the service’s articles compared with those generated by journalists.
Artificial intelligence could change that, enabling users to generate articles on a wider scale that, if not edited and checked carefully, could spread misinformation and affect how traditionally written stories are perceived.
While Google has moved at a breakneck pace to develop and deploy generative AI, the technology has also presented some challenges to the advertising juggernaut. While Google has traditionally played the role of curating information and sending users to publishers’ websites to read more, tools like its chatbot, Bard, present factual assertions that are sometimes incorrect and do not send traffic to more authoritative sources, such as news publishers.
The technology has been introduced as governments around the world have called on Google to give news outlets a larger slice of its advertising revenue. After the Australian government tried to force Google to negotiate with publishers over payments in 2021, the company forged more partnerships with news organisations in various countries, under its News Showcase program.
Publishers and other content creators have already criticised Google and other major AI companies for using decades of their articles and posts to help train these AI systems, without compensating the publishers. News organisations including NBC News and the Times have taken a position against AIs sucking up their data without permission.