- Bild declines the report claiming it will replace editorial jobs with AI.
- The staff revealed they were informed through an email about replacing editorial jobs with artificial intelligence.
The German newspaper, Bild plans to replace jobs with AI. However, it denies the report by saying they are supporting the jobs with it by including AI to support the journalist’s work.
The automated work is for supporting the staff and not for restoring them. The media post, The Guardian on June 21, published that in an internal mail to the staff, the newspaper giant admits AI implementation will replace a wide range of editorial jobs.
Email Says the Newspaper is Parting Ways With Colleagues
The owner, Axel Springer SE, mentioned in an email to the staff that unfortunately they are parting ways with colleagues who have tasks that can be handled by AI or automated processes. As per The Guardian, Axel Springer is running a cost cutting programme of $100M and it is a move aimed at restructuring its local newspaper business.
In the mail, it is clearly mentioned that the roles of some editors, print production staff, proofreaders and photo editors will no longer exist. The Chief Executive, Mathias Dopfnre, stated in February the publisher was a purely digital media company. He added AI tools like ChatGPT could make journalism better than before and could either replace it.
He anticipated AI can bring more accurate information than human journalists, and only the publishers and investigating journalism would survive. Bild has no estimation of how many jobs might be lost due to AI.
Sneft Said AI Replacing Staff is Not True
Bild Group’s Director of Communications, Christian Senft, said the reports are not true and they are not planning to replace jobs with AI. Instead, it was regarding the reconstruction program for the local newspaper which needs reduction in the staff. It includes reduction of 18 regional editions to 12 by this year’s end, and shutting of 10 offices from 15, and also includes the movement of many functions to Berlin.
Senft says the jobs of photo editors are not needed in these regions, and AI has nothing to do with this. He confirmed employees will be affected in low three digit numbers and the increased use of AI is just to support journalistic work.
He stated that they are approaching the use cases of AI in a very productive way by incorporating it with journalism to enhance the reader’s experience and it may involve in production processes of the editorial offices. AI creates more space for creative journalism, but it needs to be checked and double checked at Axel Springer.
In order to specify the vision of “Digital Only”, CEO Claudis Senft had rearranged the team to implement the changes in the print and digital form with immediate effects. He said he is extremely thankful to Thorsten Wiesner for his outstanding work in shaping the digital transformation.
In 1980, Bild sold 5 Million copies which fell to 3.5 Million copies in 2010. Its sales were further reduced to 1 Million in 2022. Axel Springer is leaning towards Web3 technology. The press release made on March 4, 2023, stated it developed a service based on KILT, which is an open source blockchain protocol.
The service will enable the users to create a decentralized wallet. This blockchain technology will allow users to protect their own identities in a secure and decentralized way.
