News companies are beginning to see a great pragmatic approach to using generative AI to make life easier at work, but some companies are also looking at the technology as a revenue-driving lever to pull.

During the recent Generative AI Master Class, part of INMA’s Generative AI Initiative, media leaders from Times Internet, Nikkei, Stuff, The New York Times, and Bayerischer Rundfunk shared how they are tapping into new advertising and product opportunities, as well as some key considerations around the ethics of AI.

Times Internet creates AI-driven advertising advantage

Times Internet in India is using generative AI to transform traditional advertising into a two-way conversation, Siddhant Satsangi, head of growth for the company, said.

A chatbot that engages a user in a conversation about the battery life of Intel computers is powerful, Satsangi said, but the result is a much more insightful conversation between the user and the brand — the real product is the dashboard, or the backend that they share with the advertiser.

Many of the 20-something brands that have done this type of campaign with Times Internet say they use it as a marketing and branding product as well as a survey product. So far the results are extremely encouraging.

Times Internet is seeing a 50% higher click-through rate compared to static display ads. Some of the genAI chatbot campaigns are seeing rates as high as 5%. Engagement time also increased by 60%.

“I think two, three years down the line brands will also kind of change their definition of what is an engaged user,” Satsangi said. “Engaged user does not mean that they go on the site and they just click on the ad.”

Conversion is also improving. Times Internet saw a jewelry campaign get a 25% increase in conversion rate for users that used the chatbot feature instead of clicking an ad that took them to the brand’s Web site.

“I’m very sure that we have just scratched the surface right now. The next five years the advertising will purely be in terms of somewhere like 60%, 70% of the advertising will come from generative AI, be it the chatbot or any other product, but this is how I look to the future.”

Nikkei reaches younger generations with AI-powered product

Nikkei in Japan is using generative AI to create a mini version of its news platforms and monetising it by reaching new, younger audiences.

Seiya Shinhashi, product manager, said Nikkei’s new media service Minutes launched last November and aimed to give readers essential journalism in a matter of minutes.

“The news is carefully selected and explained in an easy to understand way to younger readers to understand the minimum necessary news,” Shinhashi said.

Facing time and staff constraints, the company uses an in-house AI product called Nikkei Taylor to select and rewrite content from Nikkei.com in an easy-to-understand style for its Minutes product.

“By using this feature, we have succeeded in reducing the time required to create a story draft by 50% in minutes,” Shinhashi said. “The editors don’t conduct new interviews but rather mainly reconstruct past articles.”

Six months following its launch, Minutes is doing well. Nikkei sees 1,500 individual Minutes members and 7,000 corporate members: 44% of the Minutes subscriber base is under 40 compared to Nikkei.com, which sees 28% of its users under the age of 40. And 50% of Minutes readers are not Nikkei.com subscribers.

“It was important to play with genAI every day,” Shinhashi said. “In doing so, we came up with a variety of ideas. The next step was to use genAI to improve the efficiency of existing operations.”

Stuff uses AI to better serve its advertising clients

Matt Headland, managing director of brand connections at Stuff in New Zealand, provided two examples of how generative AI is making money for the company.

Stuff wanted to integrate client solutions around sponsored content in a different way. Over the course of a couple of months’ work, Stuff delivered an AI-driven process that linked everything from ad operations to content creation.

The process was implemented through all of what Stuff refers to as its culture segments like their real estate verticals. Everything has been generated by AI, with human oversight, and has allowed them to speed up the process of executing this content.

AI is also helping Stuff’s sales team save time — and money. The company has a team of people who create sales presentations on a daily basis, and creating sales decks was a week-long process. They decided to implement several different tools into a new process to create sales presentations using AI.

The entire process takes about a day to be delivered to the customer, Headland said: “We’re actually seeing revenue growth because of this as well because our sales team is now able to spend more time talking to their customers and solving problems rather than sitting and creating presentations.”

The New York Times outlines principles for AI use in the newsroom

Zach Seward, head of newsroom AI at The New York Times, said the deployment of AI must be anchored in a robust ethical framework to address unique challenges such as accuracy, bias, transparency, and the potential replacement of human judgment.

The need for stringent human oversight and accountability is a crucial aspect of the company’s ethical AI framework. While AI can augment the capabilities of journalists, Seward insists human oversight is crucial to guide and review AI-generated content, ensuring it adheres to journalistic standards and ethical norms.

He narrated an incident from the drafting process where an editor strikingly removed the word “human” from redundant phrases like “human journalists” and “human editors,” reinforcing the notion that journalism inherently requires a human perspective.

By integrating ethical considerations into AI usage, The New York Times aims to mitigate scenarios where AI's limitations might cause factual inaccuracies or ethical breaches. Seward highlighted the importance of transparency in AI applications: “It’s important to remember that AI isn’t doing anything ... not thinking, let alone plotting; it has no aspirations.”

Looking forward, Seward acknowledged the ethical challenges posed by AI in journalism will continue to evolve as technology progresses. He stressed the necessity for ongoing revision and adaptation of ethical guidelines to stay abreast of new developments and ensure that AI’s integration into journalism remains responsible and true to the core values of truth and integrity.

Bayerischer Rundfunk develops AI ethics guidelines, board

Uli Köppen, the head of the AI + Automation Lab at Bayerischer Rundfunk, Germany, shared valuable insights into the transformative role of AI and automation in journalism.

Her presentation, centered on the integration of these technologies into journalistic practices, revealed both the challenges and opportunities these innovations present.

Beyond the technical aspects, Köppen also touched on the ethical dimensions of using AI in journalism. Köppen emphasised the creation of ethical guidelines as a fundamental aspect of deploying AI in journalism.

Bayerischer Rundfunk developed external guidelines in 2020, which are currently being updated to reflect the evolving nature of AI technologies and their applications in media.

Beyond these guidelines, Köppen highlighted the necessity of an internal handbook that is more practical and actionable for daily operations. This handbook aims to empower newsroom staff to make informed decisions about using AI tools, ensuring these decisions align with journalistic standards and ethics.

To further institutionalise ethical practices, Köppen mentioned the formation of an AI ethics board within Bayerischer Rundfunk. This board serves as a resource for the newsroom, providing advice and oversight on the use of AI tools in journalism.

Staff can consult the ethics board to determine whether specific AI projects or products are safe and appropriate for use, ensuring all initiatives are vetted for ethical considerations.

While discussing ethical considerations, Köppen also touched on the broader challenges the industry faces in implementing AI responsibly. These challenges include translating traditional journalistic efforts and values into the automated and AI-driven context, where decisions may be influenced or made by algorithms.

She stressed the need for ongoing dialogue and adjustment of ethical guidelines to keep pace with technological advancements and changing societal norms.

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