The rollout of new AI technologies is changing the user experience, and that means news media companies have new opportunities, challenges, and questions.

During this week’s Webinar, INMA Product Initiative Lead Jodie Hopperton looked at some of the most significant new tools and features being released and talked about what they could mean for news organisations.

Hopperton looked at updates and additions from OpenAI, Google, and Apple that were announced beginning in May and discussed their potential use within the industry. She also underscored the need for news companies to try out some of these new technologies and share their experiences.

Tuning into audio

Audio represents one of the most significant opportunities for news organisations, Hopperton said, noting that stats show increased interest in listening, whether to articles, podcasts, or other forms of audio.

“There’s anecdotal evidence that points to higher engagement on owned and operated. I’ve spoken to a few publishers that have told me roughly 10 to 12% of subscribed users use it and they listen longer. So it is more sticky.”

Users find it more trustworthy and it also appeals across generations, she added. OpenAI Voice lets the user have discussions that exceed previous speech experiences. Hopperton demonstrated how she could “talk” with OpenAI voice and change languages, emotion, and the volume of the voice: “You can have a natural conversation with this,” she said.

That can change the search experience, because it’s more intuitive than “typing words into a box,” Hopperton said: “If we are able to use these voice capabilities, that makes it much more helpful rather than having to go back to a computer. Just say what you think.”

Meta’s Ray-Ban smartglasses leverage audio in a new way, allowing the user to record both audio and video at the touch of a button. They operate on voice commands and can be used for everything from recording a conversation to taking photos and videos to conducting information searches on the fly. They also can be used to listen to podcasts and other audio or take phone calls.

While Hopperton has become a fan of the Meta Ray-Ban glasses, she said she’s still struggling to find their relevance for news media companies, because as a search tool “you have to ask it very specific things.” And, in some areas, privacy laws may prohibit users from recording someone without their consent.

Search on steroids

With the beta test of SearchGPT, OpenAI is making its first venture into search. It’s similar to ChatGPT, Hopperton said, and looks relatively similar.

When users are searching a piece of text, they can hover over the text, and a box will appear with sources for the information. It also includes the logos of the sources and provides specific citations that users can link through. It also provides sources for the user to dive deeper into the information and is similar to Google Overviews.

Speaking of Google, Hopperton said during its summer Google I/O event, the tech giant emphasised its focus on interoperability between Google products. Users can now perform complex tasks across Google services, such as organising expense receipts from e-mails into spreadsheets or planning events based on personal preferences.

Its search innovations include features allowing users to search across multiple apps and devices, streamlining the information retrieval process. Google also continues to refine its translation tools, making them more accessible and user-friendly.

Apple shares new tools 

Apple Intelligence is a suite of features and tools set to roll out with iOS18. It includes tools that allow users to customise their browsing experience — even going so far as to let them hide “distracting elements” such as ads. They can also have other “distractions” removed, but ads are the obvious choice, Hopperton said.

“It’s kind of interesting, but also slightly scary,” Hopperton said, adding it is “not great for advertising.”

That same feature also allows users to hide paywalls and resume reading the content. The ability of the user to hide paywalls and ads will depend upon the technologies used internally, she said, and most of these features are still in beta testing stages, “so we’re not sure what the impact’s going to be.”

Another interesting development for news publishers to pay attention to is Apple’s “priority notifications” that are designed to reduce interruptions.

“If you are getting a lot of your traffic from Apple alerts and they get pushed into one to two groups of alerts during the day, that’s going to change your top of funnel in your discovery,” Hopperton said.

Apple’s new App Intents will let users search for content across multiple apps without opening each one. That’s something that’s great from a consumer perspective but possibly not so great for news publishers.

“If I can just search on my iPhone for something like ‘What’s going on in the elections,’ that’s much easier for me than having to go to a publication and think about that and then asking the question. We’re removing one step.”

Removing a step and making it easier for consumers “allows you to be discoverable in many different places,” such as in “Suggestions” and “Suggested Actions” or “Spotlight.” However, Apple refers to it as “donated content,” which Hopperton said raised questions.

“For content businesses, that’s going to be a challenge. What are you going to do? Donate all your content? The most important content? I’m sure many of you, if you are a paid for service, you don’t want to be donating content anywhere.”

That’s one aspect that will need to be explored further and more answers are needed, she said.

The tip of the AI iceberg

Hopperton will continue sharing new AI and technology developments through her weekly newsletter. She urged attendees to start experimenting with products and features to see where they fit in the news media landscape.

“We can’t wait to catch up because it might just be too late,” she said. “News publishers need to work out what the products are and how monetisation fits in. And we also need to do a massive knowledge exchange as an industry.”

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