Automation in the Newsroom and the impact on editorial labour: a case study. AP's image recognition technology project and how it requires new types of editorial tasks. Presented on 1st February 2019 at COMPUTATION + JOURNALISM SYMPOSIUM 2019 http://cplusj.org/

1. Photomation
or
Fauxtomation
?
Automation in the Newsroom
& the Impact on Editorial Labour:
A Case Study
Stuart Myles - Associated Press

2. AP handles ~4,000 images per day, with an archive of ~34 million
@smyles
We are adding automated metadata. Automation is meant to lead to less work.
But it is actually leading to more editorial work.

3. @smyles

4. FULL LENGTH

5. EXTERIOR

6. SI
T

7. “New” Editorial Work
• Label training data
• Evaluate test results
• Write definitions for concepts
• Correct metadata in Production

8. @smyles
Because AP’s customers are changing.
Newsrooms have fewer editors or even no editors, so we need to auto publish based on metadata
So…why automate?
Perhaps it is worth exploring whether job loss is leading to automation,
rather than automation leading to job loss?
Early days
I expect the relationship between automation and editorial work to continue to evolve

9. @smyles
Thanks!