Media Convergence | How does generative artificial intelligence promote systemic changes in mainstream media?
2024-08-07
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee reviewed and approved the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"). The "Decision" pointed out that "a working mechanism and evaluation system that adapts to the production and dissemination of all media should be established to promote the systematic reform of mainstream media." The "Decision" also pointed out that the development and management mechanism of generative artificial intelligence should be improved. This pointed out the direction for the next step of integration and transformation of mainstream media.
Mainstream media transformation requires systemic change
Due to the rapid development of new-generation information technology, the original information dissemination pattern has been broken and the media ecological environment has been completely overturned. Mainstream media should carry out systematic changes in concepts, goals, ideas, systems, and specific paths through a thorough Internet transformation.
With the rapid development of new-generation information technologies such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain and 5G, the Internet has gradually and fundamentally subverted the ecological environment of mainstream media.
From the perspective of business model, the traditional business model and profit model have basically collapsed. In the traditional "secondary sales" business model, the first sale is to sell content to the audience through media distribution, and the second sale is to sell the audience's attention to advertisers. Traditional mainstream media has formed a complete business closed loop and a stable profit model through distribution and advertising. However, with the changes in the information dissemination pattern, the audience no longer regards mainstream media as the first entry point for obtaining information. Both the distribution business and the advertising business have been greatly impacted by the diversion of the audience.
From the perspective of production methods and product forms, traditional content production processes and mechanisms will be eliminated in the competition for information volume and timeliness brought by the Internet. Compared with single-form products, it is difficult to meet the diversified product form needs of users under the development of information presentation technologies such as AR and VR. From the perspective of dissemination form and dissemination effect, since Internet commercial platforms occupy the first entry point for information, more and more mainstream media are embedded in commercial platforms and become content producers and providers of social platforms, using the power of platforms to guide public opinion and generate commercial benefits. However, this method needs to cater to the content presentation form of commercial platforms, which limits the diversified media dissemination methods and the power of public opinion guidance. Its accumulated users, traffic and reputation may also become the "wedding dress" of others.
In such a media ecological environment, partial adjustments will not help. Mainstream media urgently need to adapt to the external environment subverted by the Internet through systematic changes. "The trend should be taken advantage of, and the time should not be lost." The Internet has changed the public opinion environment and media landscape, giving rise to new technologies, new formats, and new mechanisms for news dissemination, and pushing mainstream media to transform in the direction of the Internet. This is the "general trend" of mainstream media.
First, in terms of concepts and goals, we need to abandon the backward concepts of being content with the status quo and getting by, insist on technology first on the basis of adhering to the Internet user's thinking, and firmly believe that only by achieving the integration goal of thorough Internet transformation can sustainable development be achieved. At the same time, through the innovation of the concepts of senior leaders, we should accelerate the positive development of the integration concepts of middle-level cadres and business-level employees, and inject vitality into the systemic reform through the transformation of the concepts of all employees.
Secondly, in terms of ideas and systems, breaking the rigid system and mechanism will be the first priority of reform. On the basis of mechanism breakthroughs, the ability to generate operating revenue will be improved, thereby enabling the entire process of production and dissemination to improve quality and efficiency, and following up with subsequent integration incentive measures.
Finally, in terms of specific paths, guided by the idea of "great integration", we will build regional or industry-based independent and controllable platforms, use technology to empower the reshaping of the all-media production and dissemination work mechanism, adjust the evaluation system based on the Internet, especially the mobile Internet, and develop towards the direction of Internet transformation by improving the quality and efficiency of content, accurately and effectively disseminating information, and rebuilding users and business models.
Reconstructing the process and reshaping the new quality production relationship
Generative artificial intelligence accelerates the formation of new qualitative productivity of the media by improving the efficiency of content production and dissemination. Mainstream media should use generative artificial intelligence to achieve leapfrog interconnection of all links of news production and dissemination, reconstruct the production and dissemination process of all media, and shape new qualitative production relations that adapt to new qualitative productivity.
First, generative artificial intelligence empowers production and communication under technological changes.
In September 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out during his inspection in Heilongjiang: "Integrate scientific and technological innovation resources, lead the development of strategic emerging industries and future industries, and accelerate the formation of new quality productivity." New quality productivity is primarily driven by digital and intelligent technologies. New generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing have become the core driving force for the formation of new quality productivity in the media. Compared with decision-making artificial intelligence, generative artificial intelligence represented by ChatGPT has shown great potential in text creation, translation, search, correction, etc. By working in collaboration with human subjects, it effectively improves the efficiency of work processes and promotes the concept of "human-machine relationship" from hostility to collaboration. Generative artificial intelligence plays an increasingly important role in reconstructing the news production and dissemination model and the industrial chain structure. It has become the most important intelligent labor tool in the development of new quality productivity in the media, effectively driving the leap of productivity.
Mainstream media should promote the core and updated upgrade of media technology based on generative artificial intelligence, realize the leap of media labor materials to intelligent interaction and wider range, and enable the improvement of the quality and efficiency of all-media production and dissemination. In content production, the media can use functions such as intelligent editing, intelligent proofreading, and virtual anchors to improve content production efficiency, and provide production creativity with the help of automatic writing and automatic painting to enrich the content product form. For example, China Central Radio and Television Station launched the animated film "Poems of the Thousand Years" based on the "CCTV Listening Media Model" with the support of my country's independent AIGC technology. From art design, motion effect generation to post-production, all are assisted by AIGC. In terms of communication methods, the media can use generative artificial intelligence technology to generate multiple modes such as text, audio, and game experience from a piece of news in real time, expanding content dissemination channels and forms.
Secondly, reshape the production and dissemination process based on generative artificial intelligence.
New quality productivity represented by generative artificial intelligence technology has brought opportunities and challenges to the production and dissemination process of all media. While enabling the improvement of production and dissemination efficiency and quality, it also requires accelerating the formation of new quality production relations that are compatible with the new quality productivity, that is, reshaping the entire process of media production and dissemination based on generative artificial intelligence.
In the traditional process, news production goes through a one-way process in which reporters or editors participate in the "planning, collecting, writing, editing, and publishing" links and present it to the audience. This one-way process is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it is difficult to meet the high requirements of the mobile Internet era for the media to be timely and have a large amount of information. Mainstream media should embed generative artificial intelligence into the content production and dissemination mechanism, and completely reconstruct the production and dissemination process according to the laws and requirements of generative artificial intelligence. All personnel can use generative artificial intelligence conveniently anytime and anywhere, give full play to the potential of "generative AI×", and significantly improve the efficiency, ability and innovation potential of production and dissemination. In particular, it is necessary to deeply summarize the lessons that new technologies such as "central kitchen" and "integrated media center" have been difficult to fully play their role, and truly establish a new production and dissemination mechanism and process based on generative artificial intelligence, so as to promote the effective implementation of new quality productivity represented by generative artificial intelligence with new quality production relations.
Improve the mainstream media evaluation system
The evaluation system is a baton. The evaluation system based on the Internet, especially the mobile Internet, can accelerate the digital integration and transformation of mainstream media. The new evaluation system should start from all-media communication and focus on and tilt towards indicators in the Internet, especially the mobile Internet.
First, based on the Internet and users. As mainstream media have "borrowed boats to go out to sea", content dissemination channels have extended to Internet platforms. Mainstream media should attach importance to the status of the Internet as the main dissemination platform, and shift evaluation indicators from paper to the Internet, especially mobile terminals, and from readers and subscriptions to online users and interactions. The number of influential dissemination accounts on each platform and the dissemination of works should be included in the work evaluation.
Second, based on the number of daily active users. Mainstream media have achieved "shipbuilding and going out to sea" by building an independent and controllable platform, but compared with other Internet commercial platforms, the user volume is small, the user stickiness is insufficient, and it is very easy to become a "zombie" client. On an independent and controllable platform, the goal should be to expand user coverage and enhance user stickiness, and focus on the number of daily active users on the platform.
Third, based on actual effects and commercial value. The economic and social benefits of mainstream media are unified in the value of communication, and economic benefits are the commercial value and actual embodiment of social benefits. Therefore, when evaluating the integration and transformation of mainstream media, we must not only consider the effect of all-media communication, but also whether it has achieved tangible economic benefits and commercial value. Otherwise, it is difficult to prove that its social benefits are truly implemented, and it is even more difficult to achieve a self-sustaining mechanism, and it is even more difficult to achieve sustainable transformation and development.
Source: Media Outlook WeChat Official Account
Edited by Jing Shiyao
Second trial of Feng Luyu
The third trial of Chen Fawen
