Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing industries worldwide, and journalism is no exception. News organizations are integrating AI tools like Klara Indernach (Express.de) and AI-powered transcription services to combine technology’s efficiency with human creativity. These innovations streamline workflows, enhance personalization, and open new avenues for reader engagement, fact-checking, and interactive content. This article explores twelve ways AI is transforming newsrooms, showcasing how these tools are shaping the future of journalism while preserving the essential human touch.
1. News article generator
Generative AI transforms newsrooms by producing high-quality texts and reports, reducing the time journalists spend on repetitive tasks and enhancing overall productivity.
EXPRESS.de has integrated Klara Indernach (KI), an advanced AI system, into their newsroom. Klara isn’t just a tool; she is positioned as a digital colleague, a humanized avatar that journalists interact with daily. Inspired by Germany’s Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Medien’s efforts to bring AI closer to their teams, this approach has made Klara a recognizable figure internally and at media conferences across Europe.
Klara’s capabilities include structuring texts, conducting extensive research, and summarizing vast information swiftly. This significantly improves the efficiency of content creation, especially for predictable topics like sports reports. By integrating specialized AI models for topics requiring in-depth expertise, EXPRESS.de ensures Klara delivers high-quality, accurate articles tailored to audience preferences.
Despite Klara’s contributions, human editors remain central to the publication process. They review every piece, verifying sources and ensuring journalistic integrity, particularly for complex or investigative stories that AI cannot yet handle independently. This collaboration highlights EXPRESS.de’s commitment to blending AI efficiency with traditional journalistic values.
Klara’s impact is measurable: according to The Audiencers, she now contributes to 11% of articles, and during peak seasons, she accounts for 8-12% of overall traffic, primarily due to her effective headline generation. This human-AI partnership has led to a significant 50-80% increase in click-through rates when AI curates articles based on user interests, showcasing the potential of AI-enhanced personalization.
We found that labelling content as AI-generated reduced people’s trust in that piece of content. On the other hand, the brand as a whole may get more credit in the long run for being completely transparent about AI usage.
Nic Newman, Senior Researcher, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
2. Building an interactive news archive with AI
Tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI are increasingly collaborating with media organizations to access their archives for training LLMs. While many media companies are cautious about freely sharing their data, RCS Mediagroup—publisher of Corriere della Sera and La Gazzetta dello Sport—is taking a proactive approach through a strategic partnership with OpenAI.
This collaboration has led to integrating an AI-powered virtual assistant in the L’Economia app, offering users personalized searches, summaries, and access to over 30,000 archived articles. RCS’s use of AI reflects a broader industry trend towards enhancing user engagement and delivering targeted content, similar to efforts by Germany’s Bild and Argentina’s Clarín.
Fabio Napoli, Business Digital Director at RCS, highlights the company’s plan to expand its AI-driven offerings by developing new thematic apps and enhancing existing platforms like L’Economia. The aim is to use AI and data analytics to deliver more personalized content and improve user interaction, ensuring readers engage more deeply and spend more time on RCS’s platforms, fostering greater loyalty.
3. Generate news quizzes
The 2024 Reuters Digital News Report highlights the growing popularity of interactive content like news quizzes, with 25% of U.S. newspaper subscribers citing such features as a reason for their subscriptions. Recognizing this trend, several news organizations are developing automatically generated quizzes based on existing articles to enhance reader engagement and learning.
For instance, TIME experimented with ChatGPT to analyze its 200 million-page archive, creating quizzes that gauge readers’ knowledge of current affairs. This AI integration combines education and engagement, encouraging readers to pay closer attention to the news.
Similarly, Ringier Axel Springer identified quizzes as a low-risk entry point for using generative AI in their newsroom. They developed a plugin for their content management system that allows authors to input a quiz topic and specify the number of questions. The AI then generates the quiz content, significantly speeding up the process and increasing reader participation. This initiative not only saves reporters time but also enhances users’ interactive experience.
At Twipe, we are also exploring the creation of automated news quizzes, which have shown promising results. Our approach aligns with the broader industry trend toward leveraging AI for engaging and educational content.
Despite these advancements, using AI to generate quizzes is not without challenges. One notable issue is the phenomenon of “hallucination,” where AI can produce inaccurate or misleading information. Human oversight is crucial to ensure accuracy. Journalists must carefully review AI-generated content, ensuring that prompts are precise and outputs align with journalistic standards.
By effectively harnessing AI for quiz generation, news organizations can create interactive content that fosters reader engagement, drives subscriptions, and promotes deeper learning while navigating the challenges of accuracy and trust in journalism.
4. AI image generators
Workers in the media industry can use artificial intelligence to create images, illustrations, and infographics for news stories. These tools help the design process, which usually requires time and expertise, and can produce relevant visuals by inputting text or data. This speeds up content production and saves human resources. It’s also a cost-effective solution, especially for smaller news outlets that cannot afford a large design team or expensive freelancers.
AI-generated visuals can be quickly produced and personalised in marketing, enhancing advertisement campaign relevance and audience engagement. AI’s images offer creative storytelling opportunities, with real-time visuals enhancing narratives and audience engagement.
5. AI voice generators and AI transcripts
One of the cornerstone applications of AI in a newsroom is the transcription of audio interviews or discussions into written content. This transformation is crucial as it facilitates the archival and easier dissemination of information. For instance, journalists often engage in verbal discussions or interviews, which are rich in content. Leveraging AI-driven transcription services, these verbal exchanges can be swiftly converted into text. This makes the content readily available for editing, publishing, or sharing across different platforms, enhancing the newsroom’s ability to repurpose or reference past content.
With the advent of AI, the efficiency and accuracy of transcription processes have seen a tremendous improvement, with tools like VG’s Jojo. Unlike manual transcription, which is time-consuming and prone to errors, AI-enabled transcription services present a faster and more accurate alternative. Utilizing sophisticated algorithms, they can accurately decipher speech, even in noisy environments or with multiple speakers. This significantly reduces the time from recording to publishing, accelerating the news production cycle. It also frees up journalists and editors to focus on more creative and analytical aspects of news production.
Building on this, AI-powered text-to-speech technology has made impressive advancements in speech synthesis, enabling realistic voiceovers in a minimal timeframe. This technology also allows for accurate translations that preserve the original intonation, thereby enhancing the authenticity of news reporting. These advancements pave the way for innovative applications like real-time translations and automated dubbing. Such innovations make content more accessible and engaging to a global audience, thus broadening the reach of newsrooms.
Newsrooms can significantly enhance their efficiency, accuracy, and content quality by integrating AI-powered audio transcription, speech-to-text, and text-to-speech technologies. This amalgamation streamlines workflow, helping newsrooms meet the demands of digital media. Additionally, AI aids in the creation and distribution of multimedia content, leading to a more informed and engaged audience. Newsrooms are better equipped to deliver high-quality content across various platforms to wider audiences through these technological advancements.
6. Personalized news: JAMES
One of the most interesting uses of AI in the newsroom is the possibility of offering individually tailored content to readers and subscribers. A great example of content personalisation is JAMES, a digital butler created by Twipe in collaboration with The Times to help news publishers enhance reader engagement through personalized emails to serve the evolving needs of modern news consumers. JAMES personalises the distribution of newsletters by learning from reader behaviours and preferences and tailoring the content to individual reader habits.
Personalized newsletters are becoming increasingly popular in the news industry, using data and machine learning to improve reader engagement and retention. With tools like JAMES and in-house personalisation efforts, news organisations are better equipped to cater to their readers’ diverse interests while also achieving their digital growth targets.
7. AI article summaries
AI is increasingly used to generate concise summaries of news articles, providing readers with quick overviews without sacrificing essential information. A standout example is Minutes by Nikkei, a subscription service launched to cater to younger, time-conscious business professionals. The service offers three curated, AI-generated articles daily, focusing on essential business news in an easily digestible format.
At the core of Minutes by Nikkei is an in-house AI tool called Nikkei Tailor. This generative AI solution streamlines the summarization process by retrieving relevant articles, summarizing key points, and rewriting them in an accessible style tailored to modern readers. The entire workflow is automated, ensuring the news is optimized for mobile and digital consumption. This has led to a 50% reduction in staff hours spent on drafting, allowing human editors to focus on curation and quality control.
Similarly, the Argentine newspaper Clarín has introduced an AI-powered reading assistant called UalterAI. This tool enhances reader engagement by providing multiple formats for news articles, including AI-generated summaries that are typically 20% of the original text’s length. UalterAI allows readers to choose from six alternative formats, such as chronological narratives, highlights, data tables, and FAQs, catering to diverse reading preferences and enhancing accessibility. Early results show that about 30% of readers accessed UalterAI features, with summaries being the most utilized.
An example of a sports article summarised by UalterAI.
The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) has also adopted AI-generated summaries to engage younger audiences who increasingly move away from traditional news sources. NRK’s tool provides concise bullet-point summaries that appear prominently below article headlines, offering readers a quick overview before they delve into the full text. Preliminary data indicated a 19% click-through rate for users expanding these summaries, with readers who engaged with the summary boxes spending nearly twice as long on the articles as those who did not.
These case studies illustrate how AI-powered summarization enhances efficiency and allows media organizations to tailor content to specific audience needs, creating more personalized and relevant news experiences. By providing essential information in an engaging and manageable way, these tools effectively address the challenges faced by younger readers, who often feel overwhelmed by extensive content.
8. AI fact-checking and quality control
AI-generated texts are becoming standard in newsrooms, but they often carry risks like inaccuracies and “hallucinations.” To address this, the AI + Automation Lab at Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) developed Second Opinion, a tool designed to verify if AI-generated summaries match their original texts. This quality control tool highlights discrepancies, ensuring consistency and reducing errors before publication.
Second Opinion operates as a second layer of verification. After an initial summary is generated using an AI model like ChatGPT, Second Opinion compares it with the original text, marking discrepancies in red (for errors) or orange (for partial inconsistencies). Users can click on these highlighted sections to understand the issues, making the review process faster and more effective for journalists.
While primarily used for summaries, Second Opinion can be applied to other text types, such as simplified versions for different audiences. However, it does not perform fact-checking; instead, it ensures that AI outputs align with the source content. Thus, journalists must still verify factual accuracy, as Second Opinion complements but does not replace human oversight.
BR’s open-source release of Second Opinion aims to foster collaboration and innovation within the AI for Media Network. By integrating this tool into their workflow, BR and its partners enhance AI’s role in journalism while maintaining the critical need for human judgment to ensure news integrity.
9. AI-enhanced comment moderation
Managing the vast volume of online comments is a significant challenge for media organizations. AI tools have become essential for detecting and moderating inappropriate or harmful content, but they also enhance dialogue by identifying constructive user interactions. An example of this is the What’s there, what’s missing project, developed by Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), and the digital agency ida as part of the LSE JournalismAI Fellowship Programme.
The project aimed to use AI to automatically detect comments that directly address newsrooms, ensuring quick responses and fostering constructive dialogue. Given that BR and MDR each receive over 10,000 comments daily, efficiently identifying valuable user feedback is crucial. The AI model developed for this project identifies comments such as praise, constructive criticism, or suggestions, which often lack explicit markers and may not be easily captured by standard search algorithms.
Using natural language processing and pattern recognition, the AI detects relevant comments and forwards them to editorial staff via Microsoft Teams. This integration into existing systems ensures minimal disruption to the workflow while enabling swift action, such as correcting errors or fact-checking based on user input.
The project highlights AI’s potential beyond simply moderating harmful content. By detecting comments encouraging engagement or providing valuable feedback, AI supports newsroom efforts to build a more interactive and responsive community. However, the AI’s effectiveness depends on continuous retraining and refinement to adapt to changing language patterns and topics.
10. Chatbots: enhancing reader engagement with AI
Chatbots are revolutionizing how media organizations interact with their audiences by providing efficient, personalized, and interactive experiences. Journalists can leverage AI-powered chatbots to deliver tailored content, answer reader queries, and deepen reader engagement.
Axel Springer launched Hey_, an AI assistant integrated with BILD, allowing users to explore journalistic topics interactively. Hey_ offers personalized content in various formats, including summaries, highlights, and even personalized bedtime stories. It proactively guides users through conversations, making interactions dynamic and engaging. This tool enables journalists to present content in an interactive dialogue format, enhancing the reader’s experience.
Building on the success of Hey_, the WELT Group introduced WELTgo!, a digital assistant exclusive to subscribers. WELTgo! assists users with everyday tasks like writing emails and provides interactive exploration of journalistic topics. It features a Q&A summarization, delivering tailored answers about current news events. For journalists, WELTgo! offers a new platform to present content interactively and engage readers in a more personalized manner.
RCS MediaGroup, publisher of Corriere della Sera, partnered with OpenAI to develop a virtual assistant integrated into the “L’Economia” app. This assistant allows readers to search articles, access additional content, and receive summaries of key articles. A standout feature is the “Ask the Expert” platform, where subscribers can pose fiscal or legal questions to professionals and receive personalized responses. Journalists can use this tool to understand reader interests better and tailor content accordingly, fostering a data-driven approach to journalism.
How Journalists Can Use AI Chatbots
Personalized Content Delivery: AI chatbots enable journalists to deliver content tailored to individual reader preferences, increasing engagement.
Interactive Storytelling: Chatbots allow for interactive exploration of topics, making news consumption more engaging and user-friendly.
Enhanced Reader Interaction: Chatbots help journalists build stronger relationships with their audience by answering reader queries and providing additional context.
Data-Driven Insights: Chatbots can collect data on reader interactions and interests, helping journalists understand audience needs and refine their content strategies.
Efficiency in Content Dissemination: Automating responses and summaries saves time, allowing journalists to focus on creating quality content.
11. AI translations
News organizations are increasingly using AI translations to reach global audiences and make content accessible in multiple languages. Le Monde’s launch of its English edition in 2022 and The Economist’s use of AI for their Espresso app showcase two distinct approaches.
Le Monde leverages AI technology like DeepL to translate 30 long-form articles daily. However, maintaining the publication’s quality standards requires a multi-step review process involving translators and journalists. This hybrid model ensures that translations align with Le Monde’s stylistic preferences and uphold the high standard of English expected by readers. “The quality of the translation comes first,” emphasizes Arnaud Aubron, Head of Development at Le Monde, highlighting the importance of combining AI efficiency with human expertise.
In contrast, The Economist takes a more automated approach for their Espresso app, targeting a global audience with AI-translated content in French, German, Mandarin, and Spanish. Due to the rapid update cycle of Espresso, which refreshes around 20 times a day, translations are not edited by humans, as the workflow requires swift execution. Senior editor Ludwig Siegele acknowledges the limitations, noting that while AI translation is “good enough” for their purposes, it is not without flaws. The team monitors the output, removing embarrassing errors if necessary.
Both Le Monde and The Economist use AI translations strategically: Le Monde focuses on ensuring quality through human intervention, while The Economist prioritizes accessibility and speed.
Le Monde in English website with some AI-translated articles.
12. AI audio edition
AI audio editions are transforming journalism by making news accessible to audiences who prefer listening or need alternatives to text. Media organizations like Aftenposten, Twipe, and Google are leading in this field, using AI to create efficient, engaging audio content.
Aftenposten developed cloned voice technology with BeyondWords, turning written articles into audio for those with reading difficulties. Their system uses a familiar host’s voice to provide real-time updates, ensuring familiarity and speed in delivering news.
Twipe’s experimentation shows that voice quality and personalization are critical. Feedback highlighted the need for clear, emotionally nuanced voices. Twipe is exploring segmenting content by type (e.g., Local, Sports) to match listener preferences.
Google’s NotebookLM takes a different approach, generating AI podcasts directly from uploaded documents. Its Audio Overviews feature mimics the speech cadence of human podcasters, making summaries feel conversational and engaging. Users can adjust settings like length and playback speed, allowing personalized listening experiences that adapt to diverse needs. The tool has gained popularity for its ability to create quick, digestible podcasts from complex content.
These AI audio solutions demonstrate how technology can expand newsrooms’ reach, improve accessibility, and enhance engagement. By refining voice quality and offering tailored formats, media organizations can adapt to changing consumption habits, making journalism more inclusive and dynamic.
Conclusion
AI is reshaping journalism by enhancing efficiency and enriching the audience experience. From automated content generation to personalized audio editions, these tools streamline tasks and broaden the reach of newsrooms. Yet, while AI excels in handling repetitive and data-driven activities, the core of journalism—investigation and storytelling—remains a human endeavor.
Just as photography complements painting, AI complements journalists, expanding their capabilities without replacing creativity. The future lies in this collaboration, where AI and journalists work together, ensuring that the essence of storytelling remains central, supported by technology’s precision and scale.
