How AI 'revolution' is shaking up journalism

PARIS, France — Journalists had fun last year asking the shiny new AI chatbot ChatGPT to write their columns, most concluding that the bot was not good enough to take their jobs. Yet.

But many commentators believe journalism is on the cusp of a revolution where mastery of algorithms and AI tools that generate content will be a key battleground.

The technology news site CNET perhaps heralded the way forward when it quietly deployed an AI program last year to write some of its listicles.

It was later forced to issue several corrections after another news site noticed that the bot had made mistakes, some of them serious.

But CNET's parent company later announced job cuts that included editorial staff -- though executives denied AI was behind the layoffs.

The German publishing behemoth Axel Springer, owner of Politico and German tabloid Bild among other titles, has been less coy.

"Artificial intelligence has the potential to make independent journalism better than it ever was –- or simply replace it," the group's boss Mathias Doepfner told staff last month.

Hailing bots like ChatGPT as a "revolution" for the industry, he announced a restructuring that would see "significant reductions" in production and proofreading.

Both companies are pushing AI as a tool to support journalists, and can point to recent developments in the industry.

'Glorified word processor' 

For the past decade, media organizations have been increasingly using automation for routine work like searching for patterns in economic data or reporting on company results.

Outlets with an online presence have obsessed over "search engine optimization", which involves using keywords in a headline to get favored by the Google or Facebook algorithms and get a story seen by the most eyeballs.

And some have developed their own algorithms to see which stories play best with their audiences and allow them to better target content and advertising -- the same tools that turned Google and Facebook into global juggernauts.

Alex Connock, author of "Media Management and Artificial Intelligence", says that mastery of these AI tools will help decide which media companies survive and which ones fail in the coming years.

And the use of content creation tools will see some people lose their jobs, he said, but not in the realms of analytical or high-end reporting.

"In the specific case of the more mechanistic end of journalism -- sports reports, financial results -- I do think that AI tools are replacing, and likely increasingly to replace, human delivery," he said.

Not all analysts agree on that point.

Mike Wooldridge of Oxford University reckons ChatGPT, for example, is more like a "glorified word processor" and journalists should not be worried.

"This technology will replace journalists in the same way that spreadsheets replaced mathematicians -- in other words, I don't think it will," he told a recent event held by the Science Media Centre.

He nonetheless suggested that mundane tasks could be replaced -- putting him on the same page as Connock.

'Test the robots' 

French journalists Jean Rognetta and Maurice de Rambuteau are digging further into the question of how ready AI is to take over from journalists.

They publish a newsletter called "Qant" written and illustrated using AI tools.

Last month, they showed off a 250-page report written by AI detailing the main trends of the CES technology show in Las Vegas.

Rognetta said they wanted to "test the robots, to push them to the limit".

They quickly found the limit.

The AI struggled to identify the main trends at CES and could not produce a summary worthy of a journalist. It also pilfered wholesale from Wikipedia.

The authors found that they needed to intervene constantly to keep the process on track, so while the programs helped save some time, they were not yet fit to replace real journalists.

Journalists are "afflicted with the syndrome of the great technological replacement, but I don't believe in it", Rognetta said.

"The robots alone are just not capable of producing articles. There is still a part of journalistic work that cannot be delegated."

Agence France-Presse

Brazil's Bolsonaro faces probes over $3.2M Saudi jewels

BRASILIA - Brazil's justice minister asked federal police Monday to investigate reports ex-president Jair Bolsonaro tried to illegally import jewelry worth $3.2 million gifted by Saudi Arabia, as tax officials probe a second present of jewels.

The far-right former president has faced mounting questions over the jewels since newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo reported Friday that customs officers blocked an aide to his former mines and energy minister, Bento Albuquerque, from bringing them into Brazil without paying the required import duty after an official trip in October 2021.

According to the newspaper, Bolsonaro administration officials intervened at least eight times to try to convince customs officers to release the diamond jewels -- a necklace, a ring, a watch and a pair of earrings from Swiss luxury house Chopard -- that had been given to the president's wife.

Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing.

"They're accusing me over a gift I neither requested nor received. There was no illegality on my part," he told CNN Brasil on Saturday from the United States, where he has been living since two days before his leftist successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, took office on January 1.

The scandal deepened Monday when Brazil's tax agency said it had opened its own investigation over reports Albuquerque's delegation entered the country with a second, previously undetected set of jewels, also a gift from the Saudi government.

Albuquerque mentioned the second set of jewels -- a watch and a pen, also made by Chopard -- in an interview with Estado de Sao Paulo.

"The incident could constitute a violation of customs law for failure to declare goods and pay the required duties," the tax agency said in a statement, vowing to take "all necessary measures" to enforce the law.

Brazilian media reports said the second set of jewels had been handed over to the presidential palace's official collection on December 29, 2022.

Under Brazilian law, travelers entering the country with goods worth more than $1,000 are required to declare them.

The first family would then either have had to pay import duty on the jewels -- equal to half their value -- or give them to the presidential palace collection as official gifts to the nation.

Agence France-Presse

TikTok hit by US lawsuits over child safety, security fears

WASHINGTON — TikTok was hit Wednesday with a pair of lawsuits from the US state of Indiana, which accused it of making false claims about the Chinese-owned app's safety for children.

The legal salvo came as problems are mounting for TikTok in the United States, with multiple accusations that the extremely popular app is a national security threat and a conduit for spying by China.

"The TikTok app is a malicious and menacing threat unleashed on unsuspecting Indiana consumers by a Chinese company that knows full well the harms it inflicts on users," said Attorney General Todd Rokita in a statement.

The lawsuit said TikTok algorithms served up "abundant content depicting alcohol, tobacco, and drugs; sexual content, nudity, and suggestive themes" to users as young as 13.

The state also sued TikTok for allegedly deceiving customers into believing that "reams of highly sensitive data and personal information" were protected from the Chinese government.

In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson did not comment specifically on the case but said "the safety, privacy and security of our community is our top priority."

"We build youth well-being into our policies, limit features by age, empower parents with tools and resources, and continue to invest in new ways to enjoy content based on age-appropriateness or family comfort," the company said.

TikTok is facing a growing front of opposition in the United States, with several states and the US military banning its use on government devices.

Texas on Wednesday became the latest state to do so, calling for "aggressive action" against TikTok.

The highly popular app is often singled out for its alleged connections to the Beijing government with fears that China is able to use TikTok's data to track and coerce users around the world.

TikTok is currently in negotiations with the US government to resolve national security concerns, hoping to maintain operations in one of its biggest markets.

TikTok said it was "confident that we're on a path...to fully satisfy all reasonable US national security concerns."

The spectacular success of TikTok has seen rival sites such as Meta-owned Instagram or Snapchat struggle to keep up, with once soaring ad revenues taking a hit.

But Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers last month that he is "extremely concerned" about security risks linked to TikTok.

Agence France-Presse 

Brexit compounded UK's shortage of doctors, says study

LONDON, United Kingdom - Brexit has compounded a shortage of doctors in Britain, with an estimated shortfall of 4,000 in major specialty areas from EU countries, a study published Sunday said.

It comes as the crisis-hit NHS state-funded health service struggles after years of underfinancing, with record waiting lists for some hospital care due to the Covid pandemic but also a lack of doctors and nurses.

The Nuffield Trust, an independent health think tank, focused on four fields of medicine -- anaesthesia, pediatrics, cardio-thoracic surgery and psychiatry -- where European doctors had been particularly relied upon before the UK left the European Union.

It found that in the four areas -- where recruitment was already challenging -- "the increase in EU and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) staff slowed down, falling below the projected increase".

If the trend seen before Brexit had continued, there should have been more than 41,000 doctors from the EU or EFTA (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein) registered in 2021, or at least 4,000 more than the figures showed.

"The campaign and result of the EU referendum is the obvious reason for a change in trend around 2015 and 2016," the study, commissioned by The Guardian newspaper, said.

It highlighted initial uncertainty over new rules for the movement of people, followed by tighter visa rules and "deteriorating work conditions" in the health system.

"The findings suggest that stagnation in the number of EU doctors in these specialities has exacerbated existing shortages in areas where the NHS has not been able to find enough qualified staff elsewhere," it added.

The Royal College of Nursing last week announced that its members would next month hold their first strike action in the union's 106-year history in England and Wales, citing pay, conditions -- and chronic staff shortages.

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Doncic dazzles in vain as Mavs downed by Pelicans

LOS ANGELES -- Luka Doncic scored 37 points but it was not enough to stop the Dallas Mavericks from slipping to defeat against the depleted New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.

Slovenian star Doncic dragged the Mavs to within one point of the Pels with four seconds remaining after a driving lay-up made it 112-111.

The 23-year-old was left shaking his head in disappointment after a three-point effort on the buzzer that would have snatched victory bounced off the rim to hand New Orleans a 113-111 win.

Doncic finished with 11 rebounds and seven assists in addition to his 37-point haul, with Spencer Dinwiddie providing support with 24 points and Christian Wood 23 points.

But Dallas were ultimately pipped by a balanced New Orleans line-up that saw eight players finish in double figures.

The victory was made all the more impressive given injuries that deprived New Orleans of regular starters Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.

Trey Murphy III scored 22 points -- making 8-of-8 from the field -- while C.J. McCollum made 14 points with 11 assists.

McCollum later admitted he could barely watch as Doncic launched his last-gasp three-point attempt on the buzzer.

"When he shot it I just thought 'Please don't go in, please don't go in'," McCollum told an on-court interviewer.

"I didn't shoot the ball well but a lot of young guys stepped up tonight and that's what we're going to need all season long.

"We're a solid team. Guys work hard, get in early and stay late and they relish these kind of opportunities to come out and put on a show."

The Pelicans improved to 3-1 with a win to move into second in the Western Conference behind leaders Portland. Dallas fell to 1-2 with the loss.

In other games on Tuesday, the Washington Wizards took their season record to 3-1 with a 120-99 romp against the Detroit Pistons at home.

Kyle Kuzma led the Washington scorers with 25 points with Kristaps Porzingis adding 20. Will Barton added 16 from the bench, including four three-pointers.

Agence France-Presse

Death toll from missiles on Ukraine town rises to 17

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine - At least 17 people including a child died when seven Russian missiles struck the industrial town of Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian authorities said Saturday.

The missiles struck before dawn on Thursday, with three landing in the town center, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the artillery battles of the southern front.

"In total, 17 people were killed," Ukraine's State Emergency Service said on Telegram, adding that one of them was a child.

The toll has repeatedly risen since an initial tally of one dead. Earlier on Saturday, it had stood at 14.

A five-storey residential building on the main street was almost razed to the ground.

President Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out on Telegram saying Zaporizhzhia "is subjected to massive rocket attacks every day... (it's a) deliberate crime".

The Ukrainian-controlled city is located in the eponymous Zaporizhzhia region, also home to the Russian-occupied nuclear plant that has been the site of heavy shelling.

Moscow claims to have annexed the region even though its forces do not control all of it.

Ukraine said at least 30 people were killed last week when a convoy of civilian cars in the Zaporizhzhia region was shelled in an attack Kyiv blamed on Moscow.

Agence France-Presse

MLB: Ohtani signs record $30-M deal with Angels for 2023

LOS ANGELES -- Japanese star pitcher and slugger Shohei Ohtani signed a one-year Major League Baseball deal worth $30 million to remain with the Los Angeles Angels for the 2023 season, the club announced Saturday.

The 28-year-old unique double threat inked the largest-ever MLB deal for a player eligible for arbitration, surpassing the $27 million given to Mookie Betts by the Boston Red Sox in 2020.

Reigning American League Most Valuable Player Ohtani's deal is fully guaranteed. He remains set to become a free agent after next season.

Ohtani has never gone through the arbitration process with the Angels, avoiding it this time as he did when he signed a two-year deal worth $8.5 million before the 2021 campaign.

Ohtani makes a hefty salary jump after making only $3 million last season and $5.5 million this year.

The battle for this year's AL MVP award figures to be between Ohtani and Aaron Judge, who has matched the AL one-season home run record by hitting 61 so far this season for the New York Yankees, matching the mark of 61 set 61 years ago by ex-Yankee Roger Maris.

On the mound as a right-handed pitcher, Ohtani is 15-8 with a 2.35 earned-run average and 213 strikeouts over 161 innings.

He was hurling a no-hitter into the eighth inning on Thursday against Oakland and is set to make his final start of the season in Oakland on Wednesday in the club's season finale.

With the bat, Ohtani is hitting .276 this season with 34 homers, 29 doubles, 11 stolen bases and 94 runs batted in over 152 games.

Ohtani entered the weekend with a 15-game hit streak, the longest active run in the major leagues.

He ranks in the top four in the AL in pitching wins, strikeouts, earned-run average and homers.

Despite Ohtrani's heroics, the Angels are days away from finishing off a seventh consecutive losing season. They haven't reached the MLB playoffs since 2014 and haven't won a playoff game since 2009.

Agence France-Presse

MLB: Judge blasts 61st homer to equal Maris record

TORONTO, Canada -- New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge blasted his 61st home run of the season on Wednesday to equal the legendary Roger Maris's longstanding American League record.

Judge, who has been motoring towards Maris's record all season, had been stuck on 60 home runs after failing to homer in seven straight games and 33 at bats.

But the 30-year-old power-hitter ended his drought in spectacular fashion on Wednesday, crushing a 394-foot homer on a 3-2 count from Toronto pitcher Tim Mayza in the seventh inning to give New York a 5-3 lead.

Judge's record-equaling blast brought the Rogers Centre crowd to its feet for a rousing ovation as Yankees players gathered at home plate to congratulate the right fielder as he rounded the bases.

Yankees legend Maris -- whose son Roger Maris Jr. was on hand to witness Judge's homer -- set his single season American League record of 61 home runs in the 1961 season.

That record stood as the best single season home record tally for all of Major League Baseball before it was surpassed multiple times by Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire during baseball's steroid era in the late 1990s.

Barry Bonds, who was also heavily implicated in the infamous BALCO drug scandal, holds the outright single season record of 73 home runs set in 2001.

Agence France-Presse

NFL: Russell Wilson booed and loses on Seahawks return

LOS ANGELES -- Denver quarterback Russell Wilson's return to Seattle started with hearty boos and finished with a 17-16 loss to Geno Smith and the Seahawks on Monday.

Wilson piloted the Seahawks to nine winning seasons, eight playoff appearances, two NFC championships and a Super Bowl title in his 10-year tenure in Seattle.

But his relationship with the team soured and he departed in March for the Broncos -- the team he and the Seahawks beat 43-8 in the 2014 Super Bowl.

Earlier this month he signed a five-year deal worth a reported $245 million with Denver and none of his prior achievements in Seattle mattered to Seahawks fans who jeered him all night, while joyously cheering his former backup Smith.

While the focus was on Wilson and his return to Seattle, it was also a huge moment for Smith, who beat out Drew Lock for the starting job -- the first time he starts a season as a team's top quarterback since he played for the New York Jets back in 2014.

Smith rose to the occasion by completing 23 of 28 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

Both touchdowns came in the first half, when Smith was ruthlessly efficient in completing 17 of 18 passes for 164 yards.

"They wrote me off," Smith said of his critics in a post-game television interview.

Seattle didn't score in the second half, but they held on with the help of a solid defensive effort and the Broncos' inability to take advantage of their opportunities.

Wilson completed 29 of 42 passes for 340 yards, hitting Jerry Jeudy with a 67-yard touchdown pass.

But Denver committed 12 penalties and gave up two second-half fumbles on the goal line.

After those disappointments, Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett opted against going for it on fourth down with just five yards needed to extend Denver's final drive.

Instead he brought in kicker Brandon McManus, who missed a 64-yard field goal attempt.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said he was "surprised" the Broncos didn't let Wilson -- renowned for his fourth-quarter and overtime comebacks -- try to extend the drive.

But Wilson had no problem with the decision.

"I believe in coach Hackett," he said. "I believe in what we're doing here."

While it was the first time Wilson found himself on the wrong side of the notoriously noisy Seahawks crowd, he said the atmosphere didn't affect him.

"I couldn't have been more locked in," he said. "It just didn't go our way. But guess what? There's 16 more games to go."

Agence France-Presse

Russia pockets $158 billion in energy exports after war: report

PARIS - Russia has raked in a whopping 158 billion euros ($158 billion) in energy exports in the 6 months following its invasion of Ukraine, with the EU accounting for more than half, a think tank said Tuesday.

The Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air called for more effective sanctions against Moscow after the invasion sent oil, gas and coal prices soaring.

"Surging fossil fuel prices mean that Russia's current revenue is far above previous years' level, despite the reductions in this year's export volumes," said the Finland-based organization.

Natural gas prices have recently soared to record levels in Europe as Russia chokes off supplies. Crude oil prices also jumped following the invasion, although they have since pulled back.

"Fossil fuel exports have contributed approximately 43 billion euros to Russia's federal budget since the start of the invasion, helping fund war crimes in Ukraine," said CREA.

The figures concern the six months following Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

During this period, the CREA estimated that the European Union was the top importer of Russian fossil fuel exporters, at 85.1 billion euros.

China followed at 34.9 billion euros and Turkey at 10.7 billion euros.

While the EU has stopped purchases of Russian coal, it is only progressively banning Russian oil and it has not adopted any limits on the imports of natural gas, upon which it is highly dependent.

The CREA said the EU ban on Russian coal imports has been effective.

After the ban went into effect Russian coal exports fell to their lowest levels since the war began.

"Russia failed to find other buyers to replace falling EU demand," said the CREA.

But it called for stronger rules and enforcement concerning Russian oil exports, urging the EU and the UK use their leverage in global shipping.

"The EU must ban the use of European-owned ships and European ports for shipping Russian oil to third countries, while the UK needs to stop allowing its insurance industry to participate in this trade," said the CREA.

The G7 countries, meanwhile, vowed Friday to push forward urgently to impose a price cap on Russian crude, a move that would deprive Russia of much of the revenue it now makes from its oil exports.

The United States has been arguing for the imposition of a price cap for months, arguing that Western bans on Russian energy products were contributing to the price hikes that helped Moscow finance its war effort.

Agence France-Presse