250 | nº 29, pp. 235-254 | doxa.comunicación
July-December of 2019
Automated sports journalism. The AnaFut case study, the bot developed by El Confidencial...
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
is high, and also in journalistic organizations that excel in terms of innovation when searching for new approaches supported by technology and knowledge as a means of progress and growth.
The increase in the number of experiences, and above all in their quality and integration into the media structure, mean that content automation solutions will not only execute programmed commands, but will also be able to propose complex decisions based on their ability to learn.
5.2. From the hand of bots to automatic news writing
Bots write news automatically supported by processes and structures provided by Artificial Intelligence. Moreover, this is the most widespread4, use of AI in the field of journalism, and is nearly universal in this area. However, its extensive use is not positive per se. There is a possibility that journalistic organisations will fall into the trap of using this technology for the simplest applications, and that automated news generation will encourage vices and bad practices, examples of which could be the following:
The automated generation of content may become a simple aggregation of data.
As a result, the information might be repetitive since it comes from structures that are highly basic, very similar to Artificial Intelligence. The application of these procedures is costly and requires constant updating and process review.
It may result in newsrooms being emptied, as AI might replace journalists rather than being a tool for journalists to use, manage and integrate into the functioning of the media.
5.3. The contribution of bots to the world of sports regarding coverage, topics, minor sports, and competitions
The panel of experts who collaborated with this research have highlighted the capacity of Artificial Intelligence to provide media organisations with tools that will allow them to provide informative coverage of events and sports competitions characterised by its standardised structure (with norms or rules), repetition (scheduling of competitions), and the possibility of synthesising or translating these facts into data (massive statistical load of sports information).
The infinite content production capacity of a newsroom system based on algorithmic and AI solutions shows a strong influence on the considerations that the five experts have brought to the issue of the contribution of bots to traditional sports coverage. The classic model of conventional coverage is costly in terms of human resources and time investment, so the automated generation of content may imply the ability to reach an unlimited number of events and minor sports, or those not considered to be of general interest.
Supported by AI, the media would have the ability to increase exponentially the factual content and provide live coverage of a myriad of sports and types of competitions, as indicated by several of the experts consulted.
4 Some people believe that bots have a more direct impact in the transmission of content. However, the writing is determined to a greater extent by algorithms, which are the ones that replace the work of information professionals.