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AG Sulzberger says AI companies are ‘failing to embrace the fundamental responsibility… to ensure the public has access to reliable information and information.’
MANILA, Philippines – Delivering an opening speech at the WAN-IFRA World Media Conference in Marseille, France, Monday, June 1, New York Times publisher AG Sulzberger slammed big tech companies, especially AI companies, for “mining” the intellectual property of news organizations.
In those speeches named “AI, Journalism and the Uncertain Future of the Public Square,” Sulzberger said “the hijacking of the public domain is enabled by the original sin that animates their AI products – the vicious theft of intellectual property that has occurred on an unprecedented scale.”
He added that AI companies are “failing to embrace the fundamental responsibility that comes with that ability – to ensure the public has access to reliable information and news.”
While he didn’t call big tech companies and AI companies entirely evil, Sulzberger warned that AI companies “are making choices, choices that violate settled law, threaten the effectiveness of creative work, and seem likely to cause large, unnecessary harm.”
This AI disruption, he explained, overturned the existing relationship and value exchange between news organizations and technology companies, where “platforms gave publishers a way to reach large audiences rather than a large share of ad revenue.”
Now, as search engines like Google – which are now powered by AI – give users direct answers to their questions, “getting a Google user to click on a link, according to industry research, is 10 times harder today than it was ten years ago.”
Sulzberger added, however, that “Google still marks a high water mark by sending readers to publishers and we can only hope that commitment will continue.” AI competitors, he said, send referral traffic to scale 96% down than Google search according to Tollbit research.
‘Stand up for your rights’
Sulzberger called on news organizations and news readers to stand up for their rights, especially in an era where news organizations are “collectively smaller and weaker than they were two decades ago” and technology companies are “larger and more powerful — and more willing to use their size and power.”
“As we prepare, we must remind ourselves: information is important. Journalism is important,” he added.
To protect against AI companies, Sulzberger suggested the following points to consider:
- Stand up for your rights. Sulzberger says that insisting that your intellectual property rights be respected comes with a responsibility that one pushes back when their rights are not respected by AI companies. “This will require courage – and sometimes resources, which are not readily available – but the alternative is to silently tolerate the systematic theft of your work that will eventually exhaust your ability to continue.”
- Handle carefully. Consider the long-term potential of content licensing deals as technology companies already have leverage over news organizations. “They’ve already taken your content and intend to use it regardless,” he said. Sulzberger added that “it’s good to ask whether the payment reflects anything close to fair value — and whether you hold any meaningful say in how your work is used.”
- Push your MPs. The news industry, Sulzberger said, “needs to come up with a short list of clear and compelling questions,” such as ensuring strong intellectual property protections are strengthened, requiring AI bots to identify themselves and control their ability to hack websites, requiring transparency so news organizations know when and how news companies are using AI for work. the content they produce.
- Join together. AI companies have the resources to sell, persuade, and persuade the public and politicians to their side. “The only way for the media industry to counter that influence is to work with, just as importantly, other creative industries. Join an amicus brief and be active in your trade associations.”
To build resilience to AI, Sulzberger also suggested the following four things.
- Use AI the right way. Sulzberger said that “Newsrooms should create standards for responsible use of AI. Then they should be aggressive and innovative in putting the technology to work to improve their journalism and strengthen their business.” He added that AI is not as bad as technology, but the actions of the companies behind it need reform.
- Be the destination first. While a direct relationship with the audience is an obvious way to support better journalism, Sulzberger said that news organizations “still have to create new relationships where people are, which is usually a technology platform.” To strengthen that relationship, however, the news audience must learn the value of engaging directly with the news organization rather than through a separate platform.
- Focus on original reporting. “To be an attraction in an AI-interfaced world, you will need very unique journalism that has its own appeal. At the heart of that is original reporting. The public has no other source for this work. Neither does AI.”
- Explain why journalism is important. The media industry should say that original reporting is an essential ingredient in healthy societies, safe nations and strong democracies. News organizations should show how the actions of big tech companies put those things at risk.
Reliable news ‘more needed than ever’
Sulzberger said, “Information and information that can be trusted are scarce and needed more than ever. The kind provided by teams of experienced professionals backed by strict procedures and standards.”
“I remain convinced of the value created by quality news organizations devoting themselves to the difficult, expensive work of original reporting – for readers, for society, for society as a whole. And, yes, even for AI models,” he added.
The full speech is available here.– Rappler.com
