<s>
Automated	B-General_Concept
journalism	I-General_Concept
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
algorithmic	B-General_Concept
journalism	I-General_Concept
or	O
robot	O
journalism	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
term	O
that	O
attempts	O
to	O
describe	O
modern	O
technological	O
processes	O
that	O
have	O
infiltrated	O
the	O
journalistic	O
profession	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
news	O
articles	O
generated	O
by	O
computer	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
four	O
main	O
fields	O
of	O
application	O
for	O
automated	B-General_Concept
journalism	I-General_Concept
,	O
namely	O
automated	O
content	O
production	O
,	O
Data	O
Mining	O
,	O
news	O
dissemination	O
and	O
content	O
optimization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Through	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
(	O
AI	B-Application
)	O
software	O
,	O
stories	O
are	O
produced	O
automatically	O
by	O
computers	O
rather	O
than	O
human	O
reporters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
science	O
and	O
AI	B-Application
companies	O
such	O
as	O
Automated	O
Insights	O
,	O
Narrative	O
Science	O
,	O
United	O
Robots	O
and	O
Monok	O
develop	O
and	O
provide	O
these	O
algorithms	O
to	O
news	O
outlets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2016	O
,	O
only	O
a	O
few	O
media	O
organizations	O
have	O
used	O
automated	B-General_Concept
journalism	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Automated	B-General_Concept
journalism	I-General_Concept
is	O
sometimes	O
seen	O
as	O
an	O
opportunity	O
to	O
free	O
journalists	O
from	O
routine	O
reporting	O
,	O
providing	O
them	O
with	O
more	O
time	O
for	O
complex	O
tasks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
automated	B-General_Concept
journalism	I-General_Concept
is	O
also	O
perceived	O
as	O
a	O
threat	O
to	O
the	O
authorship	O
and	O
quality	O
of	O
news	O
and	O
a	O
threat	O
to	O
the	O
livelihoods	O
of	O
human	O
journalists	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Automated	B-General_Concept
journalism	I-General_Concept
is	O
cheaper	O
because	O
more	O
content	O
can	O
be	O
produced	O
within	O
less	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
UK	O
's	O
Guardian	O
newspaper	O
used	O
an	O
AI	B-Application
to	O
write	O
an	O
entire	O
article	O
in	O
September	O
2020	O
,	O
commentators	O
pointed	O
out	O
that	O
the	O
AI	B-Application
still	O
relied	O
on	O
human	O
editorial	O
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Austin	O
Tanney	O
,	O
the	O
head	O
of	O
AI	B-Application
at	O
Kainos	O
said	O
:	O
"	O
The	O
Guardian	O
got	O
three	O
or	O
four	O
different	O
articles	O
and	O
spliced	O
them	O
together	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
written	O
by	O
AI	B-Application
,	O
but	O
there	O
was	O
human	O
editorial	O
on	O
that.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
the	O
concerns	O
about	O
automation	O
is	O
the	O
loss	O
of	O
employment	O
for	O
journalists	O
as	O
publishers	O
switch	O
to	O
using	O
AIs	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
scholars	O
have	O
extended	O
this	O
line	O
of	O
thinking	O
to	O
automated	B-General_Concept
journalism	I-General_Concept
and	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
AI	B-Application
in	O
the	O
news	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
2022	O
paper	O
by	O
the	O
Oxford	O
University	O
academic	O
Felix	O
Simon	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
argues	O
that	O
the	O
concentration	O
of	O
AI	B-Application
tools	O
and	O
infrastructure	O
in	O
the	O
hands	O
of	O
a	O
few	O
major	O
technology	O
companies	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Google	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
and	O
Amazon	O
Web	O
Services	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
significant	O
issue	O
for	O
the	O
news	O
industry	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
risks	O
shifting	O
more	O
control	O
to	O
these	O
companies	O
and	O
increasing	O
the	O
industry	O
's	O
dependence	O
on	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Simon	O
argues	O
that	O
this	O
could	O
lead	O
to	O
vendor	O
lock-in	O
,	O
where	O
news	O
organizations	O
become	O
structurally	O
dependent	O
on	O
AI	B-Application
provided	O
by	O
these	O
companies	O
and	O
are	O
unable	O
to	O
switch	O
to	O
another	O
vendor	O
without	O
incurring	O
significant	O
costs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
companies	O
also	O
possess	O
artefactual	O
and	O
contractual	O
control	O
over	O
their	O
AI	B-Application
infrastructure	O
and	O
services	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
expose	O
news	O
organizations	O
to	O
the	O
risk	O
of	O
unforeseen	O
changes	O
or	O
the	O
stopping	O
of	O
their	O
AI	B-Application
solutions	O
entirely	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
the	O
author	O
argues	O
the	O
reliance	O
on	O
these	O
companies	O
for	O
AI	B-Application
can	O
make	O
it	O
more	O
difficult	O
for	O
news	O
organizations	O
to	O
understand	O
the	O
decisions	O
or	O
predictions	O
made	O
by	O
the	O
systems	O
and	O
can	O
limit	O
their	O
ability	O
to	O
protect	O
sources	O
or	O
proprietary	O
business	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
2017	O
Nieman	O
Reports	O
article	O
by	O
Nicola	O
Bruno	O
discusses	O
whether	O
or	O
not	O
machines	O
will	O
replace	O
journalists	O
and	O
addresses	O
concerns	O
around	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
automated	B-General_Concept
journalism	I-General_Concept
practices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ultimately	O
,	O
Bruno	O
came	O
to	O
the	O
conclusion	O
that	O
AI	B-Application
would	O
assist	O
journalists	O
,	O
not	O
replace	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2020	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
did	O
just	O
that	O
-	O
replacing	O
27	O
journalists	O
with	O
AI	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
staff	O
member	O
was	O
quoted	O
by	O
The	O
Guardian	O
as	O
saying	O
:	O
“	O
I	O
spend	O
all	O
my	O
time	O
reading	O
about	O
how	O
automation	O
and	O
AI	B-Application
is	O
going	O
to	O
take	O
all	O
our	O
jobs	O
,	O
and	O
here	O
I	O
am	O
–	O
AI	B-Application
has	O
taken	O
my	O
job.	O
”	O
The	O
journalist	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
say	O
that	O
replacing	O
humans	O
with	O
software	O
was	O
risky	O
,	O
as	O
existing	O
staff	O
were	O
careful	O
to	O
stick	O
to	O
“	O
very	O
strict	O
editorial	O
guidelines	O
”	O
which	O
ensured	O
that	O
users	O
were	O
not	O
presented	O
with	O
violent	O
or	O
inappropriate	O
content	O
when	O
opening	O
their	O
browser	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2020	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
that	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
its	O
MSN	B-Protocol
contract	O
journalists	O
would	O
be	O
replaced	O
by	O
robot	O
journalism	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
8	O
September	O
2020	O
,	O
The	O
Guardian	O
published	O
an	O
article	O
entirely	O
written	O
by	O
the	O
neural	O
network	O
GPT-3	B-General_Concept
,	O
although	O
the	O
published	O
fragments	O
were	O
manually	O
picked	O
by	O
a	O
human	O
editor	O
.	O
</s>
