News Corp Australia launches NewsGPT

News Corp Australia has officially launched NewsGPT, a proprietary generative AI tool designed to support its staff rather than replace them. The announcement was made via a memo from Julian Delany, the company’s chief technology officer, which was initially reported by Capital Brief. The tool aims to enhance the creative processes of journalists and streamline daily operational tasks within the organisation.

The introduction of NewsGPT has sparked discussions surrounding ethical considerations, potential bias and the need for regulatory oversight in its application. Monica Attard, head of journalism at the University of Technology Sydney and a former host of ABC Media Watch, emphasised the need for stringent enforcement of usage policies to prevent misuse. “Regardless of the LLM [large language model] being used, that’s always been the fear and the concern of media organisations,” she said.

Attard also pointed out the possibility of heightened editorial bias due to the model being trained on News Corp’s internal content. This could lead to a “closed loop of information”, potentially amplifying the existing editorial biases present within the organisation’s output. She stressed the importance of training staff on the ethical use of such AI models, asserting that reliance on internally developed mechanisms may inadequately address the risks associated with misinformation or disinformation.

The union that represents News Corp staff in Australia called for staff to be consulted about the use of their work in training generative AI models. “We will be insisting that News Corp must obtain the informed and explicit consent of journalists before their work would be used for generative AI,” a spokesperson for the MEAA told Capital Brief.

Further concerns were raised by Matthew Ricketson from Deakin University, who articulated that News Corp’s operational strategy is uniquely aggressive compared to other media outlets. He noted that this characteristic raises alarms regarding the dependency on the company’s own coverage in shaping AI output, potentially skewing the information landscape.

Delany’s memo lauded NewsGPT’s capabilities, claiming it harnesses the power of leading AI models, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Anthropic Claude. Despite this, the company has taken measures to limit access to certain external AI tools, including disabling Google Gemini access for staff and blocking other applications deemed unauthorised.

As part of its AI strategy, News Corp concluded a five-year agreement valued at $250 million with OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, to further integrate AI within its operational framework.

The memo also indicated a proactive approach to monitoring AI tool deployment, with Delany noting ongoing evaluations aimed at overseeing the use of AI applications within News Corp Australia. Previous reports indicate that the company is exploring the use of alternative transcription technologies, such as Trint, following the blockage of others like Otter.ai.

Source: Noah Wire Services