[Sedaily 'AI LINK' Ranks No. 1 in DMA AI News] While WP and others use AI only as a tool, Sedaily reporters update prompts themselves Evolving article-writing engine 'NOVA' 'PRISM' tailoring articles to readers 'WAVE' converting text to video, and more Praised for "building a new AI news ecosystem"
For three days starting June 1, the world's media turned its attention to Marseille, France. The reason was the 77th World News Media Congress (WNMC) held there. The congress slogan was "Rising Voices, Looming Risks, Inspiring Futures." Heated debate centered on artificial intelligence (AI). Participants sought solutions to how the press will survive in an era when AI is upending the production, distribution, and revenue of news.
A.G. Sulzberger, chairman of The New York Times (NYT), criticized "the blatant theft by AI companies." At the same time, he stressed that "using AI is absolutely necessary." Varun Sethi, vice president of OpenAI, drew a line, saying "advertising revenue cannot be shared with news organizations," and proposed that "the press should consider how to use AI for newsrooms and readers." The crisis facing media was clear, but the solution remained unclear.
At the Global Digital Media Awards (DMA) held there, Seoul Economic Daily (Sedaily) beat the NYT. The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) selected Sedaily's AI journalism ecosystem 'AI LINK' as the "Best AI-Driven News Product, Format, or Strategy." In particular, AI LINK was praised for tightly structuring 'PRISM,' a reader-tailored news service, 'WAVE,' which turns text articles into video, and 'GLOBE,' which translates into English. Evaluators also noted that, through the AI news ecosystem, readers can keep up with the flow of countless issues pouring out and be provided with quality content tailored to their needs.
Media Giants Trapped Behind Their Own Walls = The NYT has more than 3,000 reporters and over 500 technical staff. The Washington Post (WP) is similar. Thousands of reporters and hundreds of engineers handle AI.
The larger the organization, the greater its capital power and the more robust its systems, but reporters and engineers build high walls of their own "expertise." Reporters and engineers are the best in their respective fields, but passive in collaboration. The larger the system, the longer and more complex the path for an article to reach the reader.
The NYT's investigative reporting tool 'Cheat Sheet' is one such case. It was made by a dedicated team of eight, centered on engineers. Reporters were users who took dictation from the tool. This is not unique to the NYT. Most AI journalism tools work that way. The makers and the users are divided.
The wall is higher than one might think. Even when reporters voice the inconveniences of the field, it is difficult for those concerns to reach the engineers. The features reporters want and the features engineers build are often different. The distance between field problems and technical solutions is great, and the more personnel involved, the greater that distance becomes.
'AI LINK,' Where Reporters Are Developers = AI LINK was different. It was made by newsroom reporters, not engineers. Because the reporters are the developers, they are well versed in the media environment, and on that basis they can build quality services from the reader's perspective.
It began in March 2024. Sedaily raised the topic of "AI and journalism." The repetitive work of reporters, articles bound to text, articles blocked by language barriers — Sedaily was convinced the solution could be found in AI.
In the AI project for reporters to write articles, reporters directly updated the prompts. When the results were unsatisfactory, they corrected them immediately. New models were updated right away. Reporters solved reporters' problems. The user and the maker were one and the same. In this way, the reporter-assistance tool 'NOVA' was forged through more than 300 projects.
'PRISM,' 'WAVE,' and 'GLOBE' were also built up one by one by reporters themselves. They laid AI-built bridges between reporters and articles, articles and readers, text and video, and Korean and English, connecting them into one. The benefits return to readers. They can access news across borders, tailored to their own environment and interests.
A Result That Goes Beyond a Single Tool to 'Building an Ecosystem' = This year, five works advanced to the AI category finals. The NYT's 'Cheat Sheet' is a tool that helps reporters with investigative reporting. Switzerland's Ringier 'EqualVoice' checks the gender balance of coverage. Georgia's JRC 'AINews' is an AI anchor. Lebanon and Egypt's 'Framing Gaza' is an AI tool that analyzes the framing of Gaza coverage. All four are single tools that do one thing well. They help one side, either reporters or readers. Only AI LINK was different. It starts with the article and crosses reader types, formats, and languages.
A single tool is relatively easy to make, whereas building an ecosystem is not. Production, distribution, and readers must all be threaded into a single flow. In fact, there are aspects in which a small newsroom is more advantageous than a large one.
The DMA judging results showed that this is not a matter of capital invested or scale of personnel. It looked at the difference in the perspective on the problem and the solution to it. While competing works sought "better tools," Sedaily looked at "an ecosystem connecting reporters and readers."
AI LINK demonstrated that a media outlet's use of AI is not solely a matter of capital and personnel. The reader-tailored service, AI PRISM, began with development support from the Korea Press Foundation, and its cloud foundation was secured with support from Amazon Web Services (AWS). On that foundation, reporters added the engine and built it.
The path toward readers will continue to extend. Readers are expected to encounter tailored news across various apps. The daily-record app 'D·LOG' is preparing an upgraded version of AI PRISM. AI PRISM can deliver tailored news to various apps.
The question Marseille posed was, "How can the press use AI?" It was a place where Korean media first showed that reporters can break through the wall of technology with AI, and the world acknowledged that answer.
Original reporting by Woo Seung-ho in Marseille, France for Seoul Economic Daily.
AI-translated from Korean. Quotes from foreign sources are based on Korean-language reports and may not reflect exact original wording.
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