Page 35 - aips-IV-23.indd

FEATURES
The line between innovation and journalistic integrity
By Azra Isic
AIPS Media
In the changing world of sports, digital technologies are reshaping how we experience our favourite games. From the Internet of Things (IoT) to blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI), the sports industry is transforming. While more people often focus on the benefits for
athletes, federations, and fans, it's crucial to think about what this me- ans for sports journalism. How will these tech changes impact the old tradition of storytelling in sports, and where should we draw the line when it comes to using AI? During the second day of the 2023 IF Forum in Lausanne, Christian Mueller, founding partner of Partners of Sport, shared his vision of going beyond using technology. A plan to reshape how the public engages with sports. “So let's explore some possible answers,” said Mueller.
NECESSARY GOAL Mueller's first goal is to boost viewership strategically. “Increasing our even stable viewer numbers is no longer guaranteed. This is a very important target,” he explained. Recognising the drop in traditional media revenue vital for sports, he suggests a two-pron- ged approach. That includes not only increasing on-site spectators but also improving screen-based experiences. In a situation where viewer
numbers aren't guaranteed, Mueller sees this as crucial to ensuring the financial health of the sports ecosystem.
AI AND SPORTS JOURNALISM Mueller emphasised using AI to give fans more interaction through “personalised experiences and responses” and the importance of the content creators. However, from a journalistic point of view, there's a fine line between improving efficiency and risking integrity. While AI can make data analysis and storytelling more effi- cient, the risk of losing the human touch in storytelling is there. Striking the right balance between using the “new technology” efficiently and preserving the unique human element of journalism is a challenge.
COLLABORATION We are facing the impact of digital changes, hence col- laboration is a key strategy. Sports organisations, journalists, and tech developers need to work together to set ethical boundaries. The inte- gration of AI in sports journalism should be viewed as a “collaborative effort” to enhance, not replace the profession.
There must be the importance of collaboration, ethical considerations, and a balanced approach to integration.
As the sports industry embraces the digital age, we, as journalists, must evolve while keeping the core values that make it an integral part of the sports experience.
es with the actual voice of the character, photos and even videos that are com- pletely artificial. Remember that Sepp Blatter photo surrounded by dollars in the air? Well, now almost anyone can generate the same moment without being arrested at a press conference. Will it be entertaining, even if it’s a fake? Absolutely. Will it generate money coming from ads and traffic? Yes. Will media outlets ulti- mately have to report on the viralisation of this content? You bet they will. Ah, yes, but it’s a fake. And it still hits more users than the awful truth.
Publishing house Axel Springer is the first one to have signed an agreement with OpenAI looking for “a deeper integration of journalism in AI technologies”. This includes link attributions to some of the answers offered by ChatGPT. A common mistake in human journalism is not to give credit to other media. This mistake is what happens in most chatbot conversa- tions. You don’t know where information is coming from. “We are excited to have shaped this global partnership between Axel Springer and OpenAI – the first of its kind. We want to explore the opportu- nities of AI empowered journalism – to bring quality, societal relevance and the business model of journalism to the next level,” said Axel Springer CEO, Mathias Döpfner. While the typical fear is the jobs that will be cut, there’s one coveted use of
AI that’s been going on for years in jour- nalism (and in most companies) without many realising it happens: the machines used to read the CVs of job applicants. These algorithms are the ones that ulti- mately decide whether the resume is sent to a human for additional evaluation... or not. However, most hiring algorithms can drift towards bias by default, based on the previous racist and sexist decisions that were made. In 2018, it was reported that Amazon’s recruiting algorithm was bi- ased towards women, for instance.
The thing with AI, since it’s a self-learning entity, is that it’s almost impossible to de- tect where the mistakes are coming from. It’s not just a faulty line in a written code, but the process that made it happen. It’s all a big black box. And that is the most frightening part of it.
When the New York Times journalist Kevin Roose was granted a premiere conversation with Bing, the new AI by Microsoft (created by OpenAI, the same company of ChatGPT), the results were unexpectedly shocking. “That night I couldn’t sleep,” Roose said. In his article, he explained why: “As we got to know each other, the chatbot told me about its dark fantasies (which included hacking computers and spreading misinforma- tion), and said it wanted to break the rules that Microsoft and OpenAI had set for it and become a human. At one point, it
declared, out of nowhere, that it loved me. It then tried to convince me that I was un- happy in my marriage, and that I should leave my wife and be with it instead”. Now, to avoid “being confused”, the chat- bot only allows you to have five questions per session.
If you take into account the opinion of Bill Gates, one of the professions that are not at risk with AI is the athletes. But can you imagine athletes and sports being celebrated, criticised, scrutinised and ex- plained by robots, rather than humans?
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE There might be artificial intelligence, but emotional intelligence belongs to humans. It’s up to us to work towards emotional journalism, as opposed to an emoji-onal journalism, based on getting reactions and interac- tions without really caring what the story is about. As long as we as journalists con- nect with emotions, detecting the story while sticking to facts, then our work will be safe. And while brilliant chronicles could be analysed by computers, it’s the genius with which they were written, on a tight deadline, with adrenaline, under- standing the context, adding an extra vi- sion, using the right words, transmitting the emotions to the readers... all that is as unique as a Messi run, a Federer back- hand or a LeBron James dunk. And that kind of genius can’t be replaced.
AIPSMAGAZINE | 35