Axel Springer rubbishes robot journalism threat to jobs
CE Mathias Doepfner predicts that exactly the opposite will happen as demand rises for data-heavy articles
Berlin — The use of robot journalism, or articles generated by artificial intelligence, does not pose a threat to jobs, the CE of German publisher Axel Springer said on Wednesday. "Is it going to take the jobs of journalists? What we can see is exactly the opposite. We can now do things we could never afford in analogue days when we could only rely on big teams of journalists," Mathias Doepfner told the NOAH tech conference. Many big media companies, including Thomson Reuters, are experimenting with the use of artificial intelligence to automate the production of some data-heavy articles. Springer, the publisher of top-selling German newspapers Bild and Welt, uses automated journalism to add coverage of soccer matches from the lower German leagues. Springer, which generates four-fifths of its core profit from digital, posted a double-digit gain in the first quarter. It reported a total of 2,867 journalists in 2017 versus 2,888 in 2016. Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.