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AI may be inch its way into the newsroom , as vent likeNewsweek , Sports Illustrated , Gizmodo , VentureBeat , CNETand others have experiment with article written by AI . But while most respectable journalists will condemn this manipulation case , there are a number of inauguration that think AI can heighten the news experience — at least on the consumer ’s side . The late to join the fray isRio , an “ AI news anchor ” design to help readers connect with the narration and topics they ’re most interested in from trustworthy sources .
The new app , from the same team behindAI - powered audio recording news media startup Curio , was first unveil at last calendar month ’s South by Southwest Festival in Austin . It has arouse funding from Khosla Ventures and the head of TED , Chris Anderson , who also back Curio . ( The inauguration says the round has not yet closed , so it ca n’t disclose the amount . )
Audio journalism app Curio can now create personalized episode using AI
Curio itself was set up in 2016 by outmoded - BBC strategistGovind Balakrishnanand London lawyerSrikant Chakravarti ; Rio is a new exploit that will extend the habit of Curio ’s AI technology .
First develop as a feature within Curio ’s app , Rio scan headlines from trusted papers and magazines like Bloomberg , The Wall Street Journal , Financial Times , The Washington Post and others , and then curates that content into a daily newsworthiness briefing you could either register or take heed to .
In plus , the squad enjoin Rio will keep users from finding themselves in an echo sleeping accommodation by seeking out newsworthiness that expand their savvy of theme and promote them to plunk deeper .
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In tests , Rio fix a daily briefing presented in something of a Story - like interface with graphics and link to tidings clause you could tap on at the bottom of the CRT screen that would tell the clause using an AI voice . ( These were full articles , to be clear , not AI summary . ) You bring forward through the headline in the same elbow room as you would knock through a fib on a social medium app like Instagram .
Curio says Rio ’s AI technology wo n’t fabricate entropy and will only reference content from its swear publishers partners . Rio wo n’t habituate publishing firm content to train an LLM ( large language model ) without “ expressed consent , ” it articulate .
Beyond the briefing , you could also interact with Rio in an AI chatbot port where you could ask about other topics of interestingness . paint a picture matter — like “ TikTok ban ” or “ Ukraine War , ” for example — appear as modest oral contraceptive pill above the schoolbook input signal box seat . We found the AI was sometimes a little slow to respond at times , but , otherwise , it performed as wait .
Plus , Rio would offer to create an audio installment for your queries if you require to study more .
Co - founder Balakrishnan say that Curio users had ask Rio more than 20,000 questionssince it launch as a feature in Curio last May , which is why the party determine to spin out the tech into its own app .
“ AI has us all inquire what ’s true and what ’s not . you may scan AI sites for fast response , but intrust them blindly is a bit of a gamble , ” noted Chakravarti in a statement released around Rio ’s debut at SXSW . “ Reliable knowledge is hard to come by . Only a lucky few get access to fact - contain , verified information . Rio guide on you through the news program , turning quotidian headlines from trusted sources into knowledge . mark off the newsworthiness with Rio exit you feel fulfilled instead of down . ”
It ’s hard to say if Rio is gluey enough to demand its standalone mathematical product , but it ’s easy to imagine an port like this at some point coming to large tidings aggregator , like Google News or Apple News , perhaps , or even to individual publisher ’ sites . Meanwhile , Curio will also preserve to exit with a nidus on audio news .
Curio is not the only startup looking to AI to heighten the news show reading experience . FormerTwitter engineers are build Particle , an AI - powered news reviewer , back by $ 4.4 million . Another AI - powered news app , Bulletin , also launchedto tackle clickbait along with offer intelligence summaries . Artifact had also leverage AIbefore exitingto TechCrunch ’s parent company , Yahoo .
Rio is currently in early approach , which think of you ’ll need an invitation to get in . Otherwise , you’re able to get together the app ’s waitlist atrionews.ai . The company order us it plans to launch publicly later this summer . ( As a advantage for say to the bottom , five of you may usemy own invite linkto get in . )
Former Twitter engineers are building Particle , an AI - powered intelligence reader , backed by $ 4.4 M
