Google Tests A.I.

Tool That Is
Able to Write News Articles
The product, pitched as a helpmate for
journalists, has been demonstrated for
executives at The New York Times, The
Washington Post and News Corp, which owns
The Wall Street Journal.
July 19, 2023

Google is testing a product, known internally as Genesis, that can take in information and produce news
stories.Alastair Grant/Associated Press

Google is testing a product that uses artificial intelligence technology

to produce news stories, pitching it to news organizations 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 content, 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 A.I.

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.

Jenn Crider, a Google spokeswoman, said in a statement that “in

partnership with news publishers, especially smaller publishers,
we’re in the earliest stages of exploring ideas to potentially provide
A.I.-enabled tools to help their journalists with their work.”

“Quite simply, these tools are not intended to, and cannot, replace
the essential role journalists have in reporting, creating and fact-
checking their articles,” she added. Instead, they could provide
options for headlines and other writing styles.

A News Corp spokesman said in a statement, “We have an excellent

relationship with Google, and we appreciate Sundar Pichai’s long-
term commitment to journalism.”

The Times and The Post declined to comment.

:
 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 Mr. 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

organizations 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 organizations that use it.”

News organizations 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 A.I. 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 decades. Some news
organizations, including The Associated Press, have long used A.I. 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 A.I., 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 organizations in
various countries, under its News Showcase program.

Publishers and other content creators have already criticized Google

and other major A.I. companies for using decades of their articles
and posts to help train these A.I. systems, without compensating the
publishers. News organizations including NBC News and The Times
have taken a position against A.I.’s sucking up their data without
permission.

Nico Grant is a technology reporter covering Google from San

Francisco. Previously, he spent five years at Bloomberg News, where
he focused on Google and cloud computing. More about Nico Grant

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 4 of the

New York edition with the headline: Google Is Testing an A.I. Tool
That Can Write News Articles. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper |
Subscribe
: