Curious about a news story? – Swedish Radio tests AI supported news search

This press release was originally published by Swedish Radio. 

Swedish Radio’s role is to remain relevant to the wider audience in an ever-changing media landscape. Today’s AI chat assistants offer new ways to interact with information – in a format that resembles a regular conversation. The chat function is easy to use, allowing users to ask any questions and receive AI-generated responses.

However, these responses are often inaccurate, which can have serious consequences, especially in the field of news. A recent report from the global media company BBC shows that 51% of responses from the four most well-known AI assistants had significant issues when tested with news-related questions, and 19% contained factual errors. This is a major issue because reliable information is a cornerstone of our society – and ultimately, of democracy.

Read more: Artificial Intelligence: A protective tool for journalists?

The credibility issues with AI assistants are one of the reasons Swedish Radio does not allow AI companies to scrape and use our news content. Errors and distortions result in us losing control over our journalism.

At the same time, technological advancements mean that audiences have new expectations and demands. That’s why we are exploring new ways to make our content more accessible. Here, the responsible use of innovative AI solutions can play an important role.

We also recognise that navigating news on digital platforms can be challenging. This is why Swedish Radio is now inviting the public to test a new type of news search in the Swedish Radio Play app. We offer a chat-based search function where you can ask questions about news and receive summarised answers with clear source references and links to the original publications. The ability to formulate your own question and learn more about a specific news topic is an exciting new opportunity.

The news search uses AI to provide an overview, but it is important to emphasise that all information is sourced solely from our own carefully reviewed articles. You can always click through to the original publication to listen.

The database includes all our news from October 2020 to the present. This covers publications from our national news department Ekot, P4’s local news, Sports, Culture, and Science. All new publications are added to the database immediately, ensuring that we provide you with the most recent and relevant answers. Podcasts and programs are not included in the test at this stage but may be added later.

“For public service media, technological independence is a key issue, and we are committed to developing our own tech solutions, even as we utilise the best AI models when appropriate.” 

The goal is to give our users the opportunity to ask their own personal questions within our news offering. This provides another way to deepen understanding of the world – based on individual needs at any given moment.

Swedish Radio is the first in the Swedish media industry to introduce this type of conversational news search, and we will closely monitor this test to learn as much as possible. Everything will not be perfect from the start. There are certainly aspects of functionality and presentation that we can improve. That’s why we are clear that this is a beta test – meant to be evaluated before we decide on the next steps.

This news search is made possible through a collaboration within the EBU, the European Broadcasting Union. Swedish Radio is a driving force in a pioneering project where around 30 EBU companies share news with each other, with all content translated using AI support. This allows both our journalists and our audience to gain a broader perspective on what is being reported across Europe.

The collaboration also includes joint work on AI technologies. For public service media, technological independence is a key issue, and we are committed to developing our own tech solutions, even as we utilise the best AI models when appropriate. This news search has been developed within this framework – carefully ensuring both functionality and reliability.

Now, Swedish Radio is taking the next step as the first company in this collaboration – and the first news provider in Sweden – to allow the public to test this new functionality and share their feedback.

So, ask your news question and let us know what you think!

By Sofia Wadensjö Karén, Program Director and Olle Zachrison, Head of AI and News Strategy

Read the original report on Swedish Radio