August 12, 2020

Bloomberg shares its experience in using AI-powered technologies in newsrooms at DPC workshop

Bloomberg shares its experience in using AI-powered technologies in newsrooms at DPC workshop
Virtual session organised for local and regional journalists

The Dubai Press Club (DPC), in collaboration with Bloomberg News, organised a virtual workshop titled ‘Disruptive Technologies in Newsrooms’ at which the international news agency shared its experience in using AI-powered technologies to enhance news operations.

A number of journalists and media professionals participated in the training session, which aimed to highlight the benefits of AI and various technology tools used to streamline media workflow.

Riad Hamade, Bloomberg’s Executive Editor in the Middle East and North Africa, who led the session remotely, demonstrated how Bloomberg uses automation technology to produce content. Using examples, he showed participants how Bloomberg translates stories into Arabic at the click of a button.

Highlighting the long-standing partnership between DPC and Bloomberg News, Maitha Buhumaid, Director of the Dubai Press Club (DPC), said: “Our latest partnership with Bloomberg News is aligned with our objective of helping Arab journalists stay abreast of new media trends and tools, especially at a time when AI technologies are increasingly being adopted in newsrooms. Recent studies indicate that newsrooms will use AI more widely and that AI applications will become an important part of journalists’ daily work.”

Hamade explained that newsrooms use AI in three main areas including news gathering, production and distribution. AI is also being used by journalists to mine big data, identify patterns and understand trends, he said.

“AI-powered technologies are serving news organisations across the region and the world and have contributed to increasing the efficiency of newsgathering,” he said.  

The virtual session also provided participants an overview of Bloomberg and its clients. Using examples of machine-produced stories, the session demonstrated how they supplement the work done by journalists. It also highlighted how AI robots are used at Bloomberg News to analyse large databases and send journalists alerts on trends or anomalies.