Another Career Field Taken over by Artificial Intelligence

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Journalists working for Microsoft are set to lose their jobs at the company as it prepares to shift to AI-generated news curation.

Dozens of human writers maintain the news homepage on Microsoft’s Edge browser and MSN websites, used by millions daily. But Microsoft is confident that bots can replace them.

On Thursday, about 27 writers working for PA Media, formerly known as Press Association, were told their services would no longer be needed from July when Microsoft will shift to AI-generated news pieces.

The decision by Microsoft to end its contract with PA Media was made on short notice. The employees were told there’s a worldwide shift in favor of automated news updates.

A member of the team who worked on the news website appeared to understand that they were rather expendable and said:

“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.”

The team behind the Microsoft news site did not write original stories. Instead, they selected and edited pieces by popular media companies such as CNN, BBC, and The Guardian. Since the articles are not original but are hosted on Microsoft’s websites, the tech company shares ad revenue with the original publishers.

In a statement, a Microsoft spokesperson said, “Like all companies, we evaluate our business on a regular basis. This can result in increased investment in some places and, from time to time, re-deployment in others. These decisions are not the result of the current pandemic.”

Some of the writers working on the news site have years of experience. The site also provided an opportunity for newbies to make a name for themselves in a competitive industry. The media industry was challenging, even before AI and if other sites follow Microsoft’s lead many more writers will lose their jobs.

Like other media companies, PA has had to face financial challenges. The pandemic has only made things worse.

“We are in the process of winding down the Microsoft team working at PA, and we are doing everything we can to support the individuals concerned. We are proud of the work we have done with Microsoft and know we delivered a high-quality service,” said a representative for PA Media.

Other big tech companies such as Google are also experimenting on the uses of AI in journalism. However, so far, only Microsoft has taken the bold step to automate news updates.

Source: Reporters are being replaced by bots

This is only another reason why I have never regretted my decision to earn a STEM degree.

When I was a kid, one insult that was thrown around was "You could be replaced by a button".  I used it many times against other kids (bullies) who eventually ended up working on assembly lines, only to be replaced by robots.  Now, even the snobs who went into journalism (requiring a HASS degree) are being replaced by robots.

Revenge?  Not really ... it just seems fitting to say "I told you so" the next time I see them.

If all they did was curate and re-work other people's writing, they weren't really working as reporters or journalists. Actual reporters and journalists cannot be replaced by AI.

It doesn't sound like there was a "career field" to begin with. These were temporary jobs in an industry undergoing major changes.

When anyone with adequate writing skills can call him- or her-self a "Journalist", it dooms their careers from the start.

Most modern-day "journalists" seem to believe that unless you can wring an emotional response from a victim or an eye-witness, you are not reporting every significant detail.  Sure, reporting on when, where, what, who, and why can be kind of boring; but spending 90% of a newscast focused on the tear-streaked face of an incoherent person exposes a lack of "journalistic" skill.

"Journalism" should go back to its roots -- relating one's own personal experiences to the reader or viewer in a way that communicates both the facts and the experience with equal emphasis.

Anyway, compiling and presenting the news by an A.I. system only makes sense -- facts in, facts out, and no more emotional rubbish to muck it all up.  We all have our own emotions to deal with, without being triggered by someone else's emotional state.

HASS degrees are almost virtually worthless.

I have to disagree, STEM degree has been worthless as all that matters is social performance (not even if you can communicate effectively, just the how).

AI isn't going to steal our jobs; it's going to do a lot of dull and tedious tasks for us, allowing us to focus on more creative, meaningful, human-driven work.

Humanity will adapt to new technologies as it has throughout history. Fools will waste their time and energy protesting AI while the wise invest in it.

Many manufacturing/factory jobs are dull and tedious. But they used to provide a good living for many throughout much of the 20th century.