According to sources familiar with the matter, Google is conducting a test that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to produce news pieces and has already pitched the idea to news organizations including the owners of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, News Corp.

Internally known by the working title 'Genesis', the product can receive information on current events for instance, and generate news content, per the voluntarily-anonymous sources. 

One of the three sources said that Google thinks this could serve as a personal assistant for journalists, by automating tasks to free up time and that Google regards it as responsible technology able to steer the publishing industry away from the dangers of generative AI. 

Back in May, the WSJ reported that Google is preparing to implement major structural changes to its search engine to make it more appealing to younger generations as AI applications are rapidly branching into many industries.

However, some executives described the pitch as unsettling and two individuals claimed it takes the creative and accurate news' generating effort put in by journalists for granted.

Google spokesperson Jenn Crider released a statement that “in partnership with news publishers, especially smaller publishers, we’re in the earliest stages of exploring ideas to potentially provide A.I.-enabled tools to help their journalists with their work.”

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“Quite simply, these tools are not intended to, and cannot, replace the essential role journalists have in reporting, creating and fact-checking their articles,” she added.

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 A News Corp spokesperson said: “We have an excellent relationship with Google, and we appreciate Sundar Pichai’s long-term commitment to journalism.”

Credibility risks

Media commentator and journalism professor Jeff Jarvis argues that Google's new tool would have potential pros and cons. 

Jarvis, who is also the director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, added: “If this technology can deliver factual information reliably, journalists should use the tool". 

“If, on the other hand, it is misused by journalists and news organizations on topics that require nuance and cultural understanding,” he continues, “then it could damage the credibility not only of the tool but of the news organizations that use it.”

This follows as news organizations around the globe are struggling to not just contemplate working with AI, but to also cope with the developing controversy. Those like The Times, NPR, and Insider, notified staff of their intention to explore AI and see how it can responsibly contribute to news generation.

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Others including The Associated Press have used AI previously to generate news about issues such as corporate earnings reports. Meanwhile, Google chatbot, Bard, presents factual assertions that are sometimes incorrect.

Governments around the world continue to urge Google to give news organizations a larger part of its advertising revenue. For instance, after the Australian government attempted back in 2021 to force Google to negotiate with publishers over payments, Google formed more partnerships with news organizations in many countries under its News Showcase program.

Google and other major AI firms have also been criticized for using decades of work worth of articles and posts to help train AI systems - but without compensating the original publishers. News organizations including NBC News and The Times have opposed AI's data usage without permission.