Union boss slams News Corp’s use of AI in newsrooms
The CEO of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance has hit out at the use of artificial intelligence in News Corp’s Australian newsrooms, saying it will “effectively pull up the ladder on the next generation of workers.”
“While there are numerous examples of AI being adopted in newsrooms, News Corporation’s current push for all journalists to do mandatory AI training is particularly alarming,” Erin Madeley said.
“Journalists are being taught how to ‘take on a persona’ and write in the style of somebody else, and to also use a program called ‘Story Cutter’, which has been designed specifically to replace the need for human subeditors.
“Instead of enhancing productivity, these tools will reduce the opportunities for younger journalists to develop the skills necessary for engaging in public interest journalism and effectively pull up the ladder on the next generation of workers.”
Erin Madeley
Madeley’s comments were part of a wider release calling for the government to regulate the use of AI in the face of repeated copyright breaches and future job losses.
“We know that Australian voices, music, and artwork have been scraped and faked, that ChatGPT is substituting the work of our journalists, and that AI-generated clone hosts have been used for radio programs – with no disclosure to audiences,” Madeley said, calling this “the unsanctioned, unregulated, and untaxed mining of Australia’s creative resources”.
She noted Meta recorded over A$250 billion in revenue last year, and “should be paying for the creative assets, works, and ideas that they are using, but that is not happening.
“That’s theft – plain and simple.”
In May, News Corp signed what it called “a historic, multi-year agreement” with OpenAI, which gives the latter permission to display content from News Corp mastheads in its search results.
The deal gives OpenAI full access to current and archived content from News Corp’s Australian publications — including The Australian, news.com.au, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail, The Advertiser, and Herald Sun — to “enhance its products”.
News Corp declined to comment.
Disclosure: Mumbrella’s Mumbot AI was used to check for errors in this copy. Mumbrella does not use AI to write articles.
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
Got a tip?
Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
Linkedin
topics
ai
ChatGPT
Erin Madeley
MEAA
News Corp
news.com.au
story cutter
The Advertiser
The Australian
The Courier Mail
The Daily Telegraph
Have your say