Microsoft will replace journalists with AI

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Microsoft will replace journalists with news-savvy artificial intelligence (AI). Microsoft has announced that it will be axing its team of journalists that work for msn.com. Artificial intelligence will perform these news production tasks, sources told the Seattle Times.

The tech giant contracts several dozen journalists to select and curate news stories that appear on MSN. That news is displaying on the home page of Microsoft Edge browser and integrate in the new Microsoft News Bar.

Microsoft Edge with a new tab powered by Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge with a new tab powered by Microsoft Edge

But starting in June, these media workers will be out of a job. Their responsibilities will be delegated to software designed to sniff out the most suitable news for human consumption.

One anonymous employee who will soon be out of work told the Guardian that there is an ironic element to his precarious future.

“I spend all my time reading about how automation and AI is going to take all our jobs, and here I am – AI has taken my job,” he said.

Therefore, the journalist added that he feels Microsoft is taking a big risk with automated news aggregation, as the company has strict editorial guidelines when it comes to curating content.

Microsoft said its employees were notified about the changes. The decision to do away with its human news staff was based on a routine evaluation of business practices.

“This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time to time, redeployment in others,” the company told the BBC, stressing that the move is not related to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Rise of AI

Again, Microsoft will replace journalists with AI. AI is starting to rapidly transform the global economy.

Microsoft, like some other tech companies, pays news organisations to use their content on its website.

But, it employs journalists to decide which stories to display and how they are presented.

Around 50 contract news producers will lose their jobs at the end of June. A team of full-time journalists will remain.

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