The tech giant says it wants to help journalists and news publishers.

The company behind the world’s most popular search engine has revealed it is developing an artificial intelligence tool that can generate article text and headlines. The new tool, called Genesis, will help journalists and news publishers write better articles and may soon transform the media industry, it noted in a statement. 

Google is now looking to team up with small news outlets in order to discuss the use of Genesis in newsrooms.

“Our goal is to give journalists the choice of using these emerging technologies in a way that enhances their work and productivity. Just like we’re making assistive tools available for people in Gmail and in Google Docs,” a Google spokesperson was quoted as saying by US media. 

Google stressed that it did not intend to replace journalists or fully automate the article writing process, noting that humans play an essential role in news reporting, creating, and fact-checking, while AI will make them more productive.

The tech giant’s effort to deploy a new content generating tool brings a mix of fears and suspicion in the media industry, where moderate to massive layoffs have shaken newspapers and online outlets across North America and Europe as human employees got replaced by AI. 

There’s some piece of hope though – AI is still years away from producing accurate and fact-reliant content, leaving plenty of room for editors, fact-checkers, and even reporters.

On the other hand, publishers and authors may claim royalties for copyrights and subscription fees from AI employers, both for using their content for commercial gains and for training artificial intelligence. In the US alone, more than 8,000 writers and thousands of outlets have sued Google, Meta, OpenAI, IBM, Microsoft and other tech companies for unauthorized use of their content.