Steve Dempsey: Artificial Intelligence will create new digital divide in data race

Artificial Intelligence is set to be the top trend of 2017. Amazon's Jeff Bezos has said it's hard to overstate how big an impact AI is going to have on society over the next 20 years.

Artificial Intelligence is set to be the top trend of 2017. Amazon's Jeff Bezos has said it's hard to overstate how big an impact AI is going to have on society over the next 20 years.

Artificial Intelligence is set to be the top trend of 2017. Amazon's Jeff Bezos has said it's hard to overstate how big an impact AI is going to have on society over the next 20 years.

Using artificial Intelligence (AI for short), computers can be taught to do particular things like drive a car or make recommendations based on consumers' preferences. But artificial intelligence is all around us already. Apple has built deep neural networks into its operating systems and Google already uses artificial intelligence to recognise faces in photos. So what does AI mean for media outlets and marketing firms?

There are a host of uses for publishers. AI could be used to create products that serve news and information to audiences tailored to their interests and personal preferences. Just as Netflix learns to pander to users' tastes, publishers could learn to serve better stories - and ads - to audiences. AI also has a role to play in the eradication of fake news. The likes of Google and Facebook could use it to create systems that spot misinformation and stop its spread.

Publishers could also use AI to generate stories without journalists. Of course, this only applies to a certain type of story. Structured data like match reports, stock market performance reviews would work fine - and in fact already does. Since 2014, the Associated Press has used software to generate quarterly earnings reports. Other companies such as Credit Suisse and American Century Investments have all tested automated-writing products that write investment reports that are nearly indistinguishable from those written by humans. Forward-thinking advertisers have also been dipping their toes in the AI ocean.