AI Weekly Roundup, Newsroom Toolkits, and a Bitcoin Wallet.

Hi all.

The Rundown at work

We are working on a few items at The Rundown this month. We hope to ship new features to you on our website. We have a The Rundown bitcoin wallet if it is easier to send BTC than do a paid subscription to our Substack. Any support will help us build.

Giving you a sneak peek. We are creating a deck of cards that we hope will be valuable to communications teams and journalists on the go. Here’s a snapshot in Figma of the decks of cards we are calling the “newsroom toolkit.” Here’s a look at the sausage-making process:

We are also building an avatar of ZainAI to assist in video content delivery. Hard at work.

Avatar creation process

We’ve got some great partnerships to develop courses like this:

Embedded

Here’s our short weekly news podcast for you in our series entitled, Embedded. As always, there’s a short summary, in case you do not want to listen.

Eleven Labs, Zain AI

News Whip.

Entrepreneurs are increasingly embracing generative AI tools to enhance their work and reduce costs. A recent GoDaddy survey found that over 70% of entrepreneurs are already using AI, with 75% believing it will help them compete with larger businesses. The majority (65%) also think that AI levels the playing field, allowing them to challenge major corporate players. By leveraging AI, entrepreneurs are saving money, increasing productivity, and gaining a competitive edge.

China Media Group has made significant strides in AI-produced content, creating a micro-drama series called "AI Reads Classics" entirely through AI, from storyboarding to dubbing. This process took only 5 days, compared to the usual 3–4 months. Additionally, CMG is using AI algorithms to automatically translate and dub content for global audiences. Due to the potential for disruption, CMG has developed official regulations to govern AI-driven media production.

73% of news organizations believe that generative AI tools like ChatGPT can bring new opportunities, according to a global survey by Journalism AI. A significant majority (85%) of those surveyed have already experimented with AI for tasks such as image generation and automated story summaries. While there are concerns about AI potentially displacing journalists if not implemented responsibly, embracing AI is seen as a necessity for newsrooms facing cost pressures and collapsing business models. The key is to strike a balance between augmenting human journalists with AI while maintaining editorial judgment.

Despite the growing adoption of AI in the media industry, many news organizations lack official policies governing its use. Only 24% of organizations have guidelines in place, revealing a significant governance gap. This is particularly concerning given AI's power to revolutionize reporting and potentially spread misinformation. As AI continues to transform the media landscape, it is crucial for news organizations to establish clear policies and guidelines to ensure responsible implementation.

Thank you, and we hope you will subscribe and sign up to The Rundown