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German tabloid Bild says journalists to be replaced by AI

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Jun 2023 08:41
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In a move that is anticipated to result in hundreds of layoffs, the German tabloid Bild informs its staff that they will be replaced by artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT.

An edition of Germany’s top-selling tabloid Bild (AFP)

The biggest-selling newspaper in Europe, the German tabloid Bild, has informed employees via email that it aims to use artificial intelligence to replace a number of editorial positions as part of a €100 million cost-cutting effort.

The newspaper is also restructuring its regional newspaper operations; a move that is anticipated to result in hundreds of layoffs.

In an email to staff, the German tabloid Bild's owner Axel Springer SE said in an email that the newspaper would “unfortunately be parting ways with colleagues who have tasks that in the digital world are performed by AI and/or automated processes."

The email clearly stated that the roles of “editors, print production staff, subeditors, proofreaders, and photo editors will no longer exist as they do today," as per the email, which was seen by the rival Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper (FAZ).

The statement comes after the publisher's chief executive, Mathias Dopfner, said it will be a "purely digital media company" in February. At the time, he stressed that AI tools such as ChatGPT could “make independent journalism better than it ever was – or replace it."

He asserted that AI will eventually surpass human journalists in the "aggregation of information" and that only publishers that produced "the best original content" - such as investigative journalism and original commentary - would endure.

Bild didn't specify the number of jobs that might potentially be lost to AI.

Not an isolated incident: The journalistic organization Springer is not the first to examine artificial intelligence. This year, BuzzFeed declared its intention to "enhance" content and online quizzes with AI, while the UK's Daily Mirror and Daily Express have also voiced interest in using it.

The German Journalists' Association (DJV) has slammed Springer’s plans, warning that job cuts at Bild would “slaughter the group’s cash cow." The change was “not just antisocial towards employees, but also extremely stupid economically," it said.