Are newsbots really able to 'converse' with their audiences? Maybe. This presentation explores 16 newsbots and highlights some of the advantages and challenges of automating the news through bots.

1. Page 1
The University of Sydney
Intelligent
Newsbots? AI in
conversational
journalism
Dr Jonathon Hutchinson
ADM+S - Hey Google, What’s the
News?

2. Page 2
The University of Sydney
A news relationship?
– Heather Ford and I examined the ABC Newsbot
in 2018
– We found it was a human crafted type of
automation
– Key ‘human’ characteristics include:
– Unpretentious
– Optimistic
– Helpful
– What this does lay the path for is
’conversational journalism’, which is helpful
for providing information context and
translation work for a variety of audiences

3. Page 3
The University of Sydney
Digital Intermediation?
– Cultural production and the
relationship between
technologies, institutions and
automation
– Two-way street for content
creators: they create, but also
create as designed by their
platforms
– Prompts thought for the role
of humans within
automation…
– How conversational are
Newsbots now?

4. Page 4
The University of Sydney
A walkthrough… (Light et al., 2018)
– 16 Newsbots
– Most interesting
included Artifact, ABC
Newsbot, The
NewsRoom, and Charlie
– Blend of aggregation,
editorial and automation
– Conversational? Sort
of…

5. Page 5
The University of Sydney
There remains a gap in ‘conversational’
journalism
• It was useful to work with Charlie
to understand the hot topics of
the day
• Charlie had some conversation,
but certainly lacks a clear syntax
with its users
• There is no real development
from 2018 (that I can discern
from outside)
• There was a consistent ‘less is
more’ across all models
• However, conversational
journalism should be a key focus
for developers and news editors
as it does provide ways to reach
new audiences, but more
importantly to contextualise and
translate key information.

6. Page 6
The University of Sydney
Intelligent
Newsbots? AI in
conversational
journalism
Dr Jonathon Hutchinson
ADM+S - Hey Google, What’s the
News?