From Clunky to Crisp: Rethinking AI in Newsrooms - Is It Time for a Change?

Elon Musk-backed X (formerly known as Twitter), recently, launched an AI driven feature called ‘Grok Stories’ – which will provide summaries of trending news. According to an?announcement?and screenshots posted by the X Engineering team on Friday, X’s Premium subscribers will be able to read a summary of posts on X associated with each trending story featured on the For You tab in Explore.

The service offers users a snapshot of what’s being discussed on the platform, allowing them to quickly catch up with current events without the need of searching through heaps of conversations to understand the crux. Grok Stories is focused on summarising the conversations around a topic resulting in representing views of the community rather than the news itself.? But the disclaimer dilemma continues: Despite all the bandwidth and data these AI driven summaries come with a disclaimer, urging users to verify the information, as the AI’s accuracy is not guaranteed.

But why X is taking a shot at summarising? The simple answer is: Even if the platform continues to get love both from audiences as well as news gatherers, it has become more and more clunky to find relevant stuff for the news consumers. This service is powered by Grok AI and it passes through discussions and posts related to trending stories on the platform. Users can explore this feature under the 'For You' section. What’s more interesting is that it’s a premium service and falls under paid subscription.?

So why is X exposing this feature to the subscribers, instead of everyone??

Navigating X to find things that are relevant can get complicated. Getting users to quickly grasp key developments without extensive reading, is making content consumption efficient making it an interesting value proposition for a subscriber. So it saves a subscriber’s time, as value in return. Moreover, the subscriber finds what is needed quickly, and hence may engage more. A potential win win.?

So, what’s in it this for news publishers?

Now, traffic to news publishers from X has continued to decline. X is struggling to retain users too. Yet, X continues to be the favourite destination for editors – for research and finding trending content. Call it a love-hate relationship.

News companies should learn from X: to give special attention to a subscriber’s time.?The solution - AI driven summarisation. Help the user find what’s relevant quickly. This drives engagement, and more engagement means more renewal money. Publishers can take this steppingstone by just re-evaluating their existing offerings like newsletters, notifications, etc.?

What’s interesting is - most Indian publishers are seeing AI as a means to generate content volumes, and not as a platform to enhance user experience.?Unless your reader is exceptionally loyal, navigating through any digital news platform and trying to find relevant news isn't very efficient. News navigation sucks. The reason? Most digital news platforms are designed mainly for users coming from search engines to specific articles, which doesn't serve paid subscribers well who are searching for relevant content that matters to them.?

There are more examples.

Now, if one looks at Google Discover's content recommendations – it gives a personalised and curated experience to reader’s preferences. Helps them save time to find relevant content. Hence, it is appealing to both young and seasoned digital news loyalists. For premium subscribers, enhancing the user experience involves not just exclusive content, but also how and where they interact with the platform.

So how to get there??

Innovation and experiments is the only key to creating value driven news revenue models which compel subscribers to pay.? Grok Stories is one such innovation which not only will cater to the evolving needs of readers, but it signals a clear shift towards more interactive and efficient media platforms.?

We must understand, that in this dopamine-addicted world, providing value content quickly and effectively can potentially be a milestone of success for digital news publishing.?As news publishers and platforms like X continue to evolve with AI-driven features, the challenge remains: to bridge the gap between content and genuine engagement. This evolution presents an opportunity for news companies to not only adapt but innovate.?

An exciting week ahead!

That aside, this week will is full of excitement for AI enthusiasts and news publishers as on one side Open AI is rumored to launch its search feature and updates to GPT-4. On the other hand, Alphabet, who has been grappling to get the upper hand in on-going AI war is hosting its annual Google I/O event.?

Stay tuned for more!

And a word about Rytstory.com

Rytstory's AI zeroes in on the topics that resonate most with your audience on Google Discover. By aligning with what gamers are searching for, we ensure that your content stands out to relevant users on Google Discover. Connect with Rytstory at 9958455668 for deeper insights.?