{"id":20561,"date":"2018-05-23T09:59:47","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T13:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/company\/stories\/machines-media-2018-ai-machine-learning-computer-vision-future-interfaces\/"},"modified":"2022-03-04T23:12:29","modified_gmt":"2022-03-05T04:12:29","slug":"machines-media-2018-ai-machine-learning-computer-vision-future-interfaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/company\/stories\/machines-media-2018-ai-machine-learning-computer-vision-future-interfaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Machines + Media 2018: New applications of data science and technology in media and journalism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The media industry is on the verge of disruption. While the basic tenets of journalism are to present a balanced view based in facts, every aspect of storytelling and distribution is affected by technology. Even though the industry has more tools than ever to write, report, produce, and distribute stories, fake news sometimes prevails because that\u2019s what people want to believe. Journalism\u2019s best defense against fake news is investments in technology and innovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a sense of opportunity and potential for innovation and also a sense of trepidation about what some of these developments mean,\u201d said Justin Hendrix, executive director at NYC Media Lab. \u201cLike any technology, we\u2019re playing with fire \u2013 fire is an incredibly valuable resource for humanity, but it\u2019s also very dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Bloomberg-sponsored Machines + Media 2018<\/a> conference last week, organized by NYC Media Lab<\/a> and hosted by Bloomberg at its Global Headquarters in New York City, industry executives, academics and politicians discussed the business, technology, and innovation in the media sector, along with privacy and ethical concerns.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s good reason to believe that the future of news<\/a> will be more automated, more paid for and eventually less fake. \u201cMost of the impact of technology is on the distribution side,\u201d said John Micklethwait, Bloomberg editor-in-chief. \u201cThe idea that you could reach just about everybody almost immediately would have seemed unbelievable not that long ago, but that\u2019s the world that we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n

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Technology has sped up the news cycle. Today, news is incredibly valuable for a short period of time \u2013 about 10 to 15 seconds for some markets \u2013 before the debate quickly turns to why and what\u2019s next. When machines, through artificial intelligence and machine learning that can automate tasks, capture basic facts for events that are naturally repeatable, journalists can instead focus on the why. People aren\u2019t replaced, but rather become specialized in the creative tasks that machines can\u2019t perform. \u201cLet people focus on what they\u2019re best at, then the ROI on using artificial intelligence in any industry will soar massively,\u201d said Drew Silverstein, CEO of Amper Music.<\/p>\n

The distribution of news has changed as well. News has evolved from something you get and consume to something that follows you around. Technologies like blockchain, augmented reality and natural language processing can help journalists disseminate information in more engaging and unique ways, but content has to be delivered at the right time. Personalization affects what people read \u2013 sometimes people read an article because it\u2019s true and other times, because it\u2019s appealing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to think that people are interested in the facts, but many people are interested in what interests them,\u201d said Amanda Stent, NLP Architect with the Office of the CTO at Bloomberg. \u201cThe challenge for media organizations is to present people with enough information to bring us back into a common space by giving people the information they need to know right now, regardless of whether it\u2019s something they personally chose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting people to that common space becomes difficult when technology is also used to create and distribute content containing little to no facts or altered realities, no matter the medium. \u201cThere used to be a cost associated with publishing content online,\u201d said Mor Naaman, associate professor of information science at Cornell Tech. \u201cThink about the 1990s and the early web, having a well-designed website with a decent URL meant that you are a credible organization. Today, it\u2019s so easy to produce content, and there\u2019s so little risk. In fact, there is a reward for producing fake content.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just like technology can be used to alter the truth, technology can also protect the truth. Blockchain, for example, could be used to track stories as they travel the Internet so that readers can verify where that story was originally published. \u201cBlockchain is decentralized, and the crypto key goes along with the content no matter how it\u2019s shared,\u201d said Clay Eltzroth, product manager for Bloomberg News. Being able to follow content to the original source because of a tag can help to reinforce trust in an outlet and the news the outlet produces.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n

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There are many more applications of technology that have yet to be explored. In any industry undergoing transformation, startups are often the best place to find these new applications. During Machines + Media, six companies presented their solutions to some of the challenges facing the media today:<\/p>\n