#DeepFakes: Reuters develops AI capable of producing presenter-led videos
The role of artificial intelligence in journalism is hotly-debated, mainly due to the risks of involving machines in the practice of unbiased reporting. However, leading news agency Reuters is focusing on the good side of AI and leveraging its power for something really novel - automating presenter-led news reports completely. Here's all you need to know about it.
News videos come with the restriction of time, resources
Today, almost every media outlet operates on social platforms to deliver live news reports and updates to millions of people - as and when things happen. However, the problem is, when an outlet uses video as the medium of news delivery, they are restricted by the elements of time and resources, because videos have to be scripted and shot manually before being shared.
Reuters' AI strives to solve this problem for good
To tackle this problem and scale up the production of video news, Reuters has taken a step to automate the process completely. Specifically, the agency - working in partnership with Synthesia, a London-based AI start-up - has developed the world's first fully automated, presenter-led sports news summary system. It uses the AI engine to churn out completely realistic presenter-led reports in real-time.
How this system works?
The system, which is a prototype for football match reports at this stage, builds on the idea of using AI to generate news. First, the neural engine generates match reports in the format of a script using scoring data. Then, just like Deepfakes, these scripts are synthesized into a pre-recorded footage of an anchor to produce a live video of him/her giving match updates.
With this, video production could be scaled significantly
Theoretically, the tech showcased here can be applied to various news categories to cover a range of events and developments at the same time. However, if we look at the benefits in sports alone, such a system can play a big role in helping a news company to deliver important video updates from different matches or sports happening simultaneously around the globe.
However, future implementation remains a point of question
Having said that, it is worth noting that there is no clarity over when or if this model would be included in Reuters' reporting system. Its global head Nick Cohen says, "This kind of prototyping is helping us to understand how AI and synthetic media can be combined with our real-time feeds of photography and reporting to create new kinds of products and services."
