AI in the realworld of newsrooms, "SEO is dead!", and a new Google probe

Bloomberg's editorial chief sounds the reality check on AI in newsrooms, experts weigh in on suggestions SEO is doomed, and the public thinks platforms should stop lies - all in this week's Content Aware

Published: 16:39, 16 January 2025

Corbidge comments on... group solo projects
As content creators wield more power in the media space, more and more find that being a solo project isn't without its downsides. Our lone voice of reason looks at the power of the collective.
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Bloomberg boss: "AI isn't coming to newsrooms - it's already here"
The editor-in-chief of Bloomberg on AI adoption in media and the newsroom. Soundbite: “Out of the 5,000 stories we produce every day there is some form of automation in more than a third of them."
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Waiving goodbye to copyright
The UK Government's short consultation on AI and copyright is a smokescreen prior to surrender, fears independent UK peer Baroness Kidron. Kidron is super engaged with the forthcoming UK Data (Use and Access) Bill which will form the backbone for the nation's digital rights and regulations, so is no stranger to the realm. What are her views on the AI vs IP debate? Charting AI asked.
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New UK Google investigation: your comments are wanted
The first customer for the new UK Digital Markets Act is Google search and ads, which may be classified as having Strategic Market Status and subject to tighter regulations preventing market abuse and dominance. Press Gazette reports; the investigation is now open, and you have until February 3 to give your comments and insight.
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OpenAI的推理模型爱用中文思考, 但没人知道原因
Behold the new digital Esperanto: ChatGPT's inadvertent multilingual answers. The AI has started answering in Chinese, Persian, Hindu, Thai and other stolen content languages, regardless of the original question. Since the people behind it can't say/don't know why, perhaps we had better get used to it.
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REMINDER: Humans can read your Google AI activity
With no time wasted Google has turned on AI by default on all its business products, upping the base price and adding Gemini to things like chats, email, video meets, calendar, sheets, drive storage etc, whether users want it or not. Work users cannot opt out or delete data unless their admins have done it at an organisational level, so do check if the change irks you. Before you ape your work set-up, for personal users Google tucks away in its T&Cs that humans can see anything gobbled up by its AI from your activities for up to three years, and advises "Please don’t enter confidential information in your conversations or any data you wouldn’t want a reviewer to see".
• Here's the Gemini Privacy Policy
• Here's how to see what you're already signed up for
• Unimpressed? Here's how to turn it off and delete your data
• Sensitive data? Google doesn't even save its own chats for some reason

"SEO is dead...". Cue a Linkedin ruckus
Is SEO as we know it dead? A lively debate on the topic broke out on Linkedin after this MIT Tech Review story grabbed the community's interest.
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Platforms should take responsibility for lies
A good reminder from a recent Reuters Institute opinions survey that, despite what Mark Zuckerberg chooses to believe, the vast majority of people say social platforms should take responsibility for misinformation on their sites and apps.
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AI defendants call for legal timeout
OpenAI and Microsoft are using the old "We got away with it for so long we can't be found guilty" ploy in their legal defence against the New York Times and other copyright holders.
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Substack rolls out livestreaming
Twitch for people who prefer text. Does this make haircuts and veneers claimable? Time to get a new webcam and microphone!
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Publisher strategies for 2025
Media Voices podcast has publishing sector advisor Jim Bilton talking about 2025 strategies for news and magazine companies. Is the glass half full? "The glass is clearly the wrong size which is a structural issue. Finding the optimal glass is the real task for every business."
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Close the gap between title and reader
INMA looks at the recommendations to bring audiences closer to your work in 2025, with personalisation and community top of the list.
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Getty+Shutterstock: an SEO deep dive
As two of the world's largest suppliers of images merge, an ex-Shutterstock SEO looks at the possible ripple effects for them and their customers in an interesting study of combining big brands and downstream effects.
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Poynter Journalism awards now open
Doing stories for a US outlet? Select your best and submit it to the Poynter Org for consideration in its annual awards - a rollcall of journalistic excellence. You have four weeks to select and submit your nominations.
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