“IA can represent a very interesting opportunity for the media”

“ A AI [artificial intelligence] can represent a very interesting opportunity for the media, for the traditional media and industry” of the sector, considers Riccardo Terzi,’head of partnerships” from Google to southern Europe, admitting that “many things still have to be adjusted to the new model.”.

The conversation that Google has been having with media leaders, adds, “is related, for example, to the control of the AI and the remuneration rights”, thus opening “a new field of dialogue and conversation”.

Riccardo Terzi stresses that he is the first to say that “there is still much to do” and that they are all in a “completely experimental” phase.

Paradoxically, “even if we are now all discussing the fluctuation of traffic, the paradigm that is changing, specifically in journalism, I think AI is a great tool to enable journalists to devote more time, in my opinion, to what will be even more relevant in the future,” he says.

That is, “the ability to critically analyze the facts, the ability to be human and current and the ability to create an ethical bond with its readers, something an algorithm and a machine will never be able to do,” Google’s manager emphasizes.

In this sense, he considers that “the opportunity is to use this technology for the right purpose in the production of information” and “position journalism in the right way in the face of the many phenomena, especially in the young audience of Generation Z, who say they are interested in deepening the information,” says Riccardo Terzi.

“ I think if I put all this together, yes, I have a positive opinion on how this will evolve” in the media sector.

Riccardo Terzi is completely opposed to the speculative theory that AI will replace journalism.

“I completely disagree. I am in favour of human participation (human-in-the-loop), as we say in the world of technology, and I am in favour of the fact that AI tools and technology give humans, and in this case journalists, superpowers to be even more watchdogs than before,” he continues.

The younger generation “feel less of traditional media brands, but perhaps feel too attached to individual journalists,” he says, pointing out that “it’s as if journalists were becoming brands in themselves.”.

For example, “the phenomenon of creators” of content, “which are very close to different formats, multimodal formats, audio and video”.

In this sense, he admits that journalists should probably evolve “from text to deeply new formats, starting with video”.

And probably “they can start to consider how to build their own community with people, how to use the tone of voice, how to do investigations, how to judge life and facts,” he adds.

Overall, “I see the profile of the journalist evolving like any other professional profile, but in no way to be replaced by technology”, Riccardo Terzi says.