It’s been impossible to miss: in recent years the media industry has been hit by an AI tidal wave. But how are media companies responding to this disruptive force? And with the transformative nature of this mediatech, which companies will sink and which will swim?
Some news websites are resisting AI’s encroachment on their traditional business models, like The New York Times which is famously suing OpenAI for copyright infringement. Others are embracing AI, such as German publisher Axel Springer which has partnered with the same AI company.
But among the Generative AI noise, some powerful AI use cases are flying under the radar. Smart media industry leaders are realising business benefits from the likes of natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning. An easily accessible way to do this is no-code AI tools which help you explore the impact of AI without the heavy mediatech investment.
Rage against the machine?
NYT isn’t the only media company fighting back against AI systems. NBC News, Reddit and X, alongside a cohort of disgruntled authors, filed at least 10 US lawsuits against AI companies in 2023, arguing the technology used copyrighted data without permission and infringed their intellectual property rights. Cue swathes of content creators locking their files to protect their work and encouraging boycotts of certain news websites which use Generative AI.
And the fight against AI goes way beyond protecting the IP of individuals and organisations: it’s also about combating the spread of disinformation. “It’s the beginning of what is going to be a hellfire. This country is going to see a mass proliferation of mass garbage. Is this real or is this not real?” commented Axios CEO Jim VandeHei in 2023.
The concerns are understandable, as AI systems can generate content indistinguishable from human-created content, posing a threat to the credibility of news organisations. There’s a reason that ‘hallucinate’ was named Word of the Year by the Cambridge Dictionary.
So, among all the doom-mongering, why are some media companies embracing AI?
Machines of loving grace?
Those forward-thinking parts of the media industry which embrace AI see it as a tool to enhance their operations and create new opportunities.
Coming back to German publisher Axel Springer, its content partnership with OpenAI shows the business recognises the reality that AI is already revolutionising the media industry. Rather than suing mediatech companies, it agreed a deal “worth tens of millions of euros a year” or as one media analyst puts it “a flat fee for the historic data plus ongoing annual fee”.
There are many uncontroversial use cases of AI in the media and entertainment industry. For example, AI-powered mediatech can analyse scenes, objects and metadata to categorise movies and shows, enabling more accurate genre classification and recommendations. This is the sort of work better suited to computers than people. AI can also assist in content creation, with tools like Scriptbook being used for script analysis and AIVA for music composition.
Myths about AI in media
We’ve looked at some of the arguments for and against AI in the media, but there is one huge misunderstanding. It comes down to the single-minded attention paid to Generative AI, because while AI content creation presents efficiencies it is also the most threatening and contentious area of all.
Instead where AI is ‘the assistant’—performing tasks to make life more convenient, customised and efficient—the adoption should be much higher. These AI capabilities tasks are powered by Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning, which is a totally different playing field to GenAI.
The many use cases for NLP and Machine Learning are impressive, such as automating routine tasks, analysing vast amounts of data, identifying trends and making predictions. Looking specifically at the media industry, AI can analyse user data to offer personalised recommendations for content, as well as serving interactive content in real-time and helping drive subscriptions and other actions.
How to swim
The final problematic myth preventing media companies from adopting AI goes like this: it’s too expensive, too risky, and takes too much time and effort. Businesses in the media industry who continue to believe this will do one thing—sink.
AI doesn’t have to be difficult and confusing. A viable solution for media companies with little AI experience is to access no-code, out-of-the-box tools allowing you to test the AI waters without the major upfront investment.
These plug-and-play tools can automate tasks, analyse data, generate revenue, enhance marketing efforts, tailor and personalise the user experience, and, yes, they can generate content. Take a look at these media industry success stories in their own words.
When it comes to AI, the waters are still rising. Is your media company ready to swim?