
Brussels was the location of our third Thomson Talks with Madhav Chinnappa held on 25 June 2024, focused on the specific subject of AI/News & Regulation. Four kick-off speakers framed the topic from their respective perspectives before the open-ended discussion took place.
The event was held under the Chatham House Rule so where someone is named, it is with their explicit permission.
Claus Grewenig, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at RTL Deutschland co-hosted and shared the perspective of a large broadcasting and streaming company's as well as a news organisation's perspective around:
despite the pros of AI, the need for a robust (copyright) framework to protect and negotiate when content is used
the need for improvements in levelling the playing field and findability for value media
a focus on financial sustainability of the media sector (e.g. no ad restrictions)
Dan Nechita, Head of Cabinet for Dragos Tudorache, MEP with Renew Europe, spoke about how the European Parliament (EP) insisted on provisions for transparency regarding input data to increase our knowledge of how models are trained, about how AI labelling helps combat disinformation and electoral interference, and about the next steps in the AI Act implementation, for which the European Commission (EC), and in particular the AI Office, is in charge.
Kilian Gross, Head of Unit in the AI Office at the EC followed with outlining how the AI Office is a transversal organisation, not just a regulator and is trying to balance innovation and regulation while being inclusive, fast and conscious that actions need to be done with the global context in mind.
Ariane Bernard, a news industry and digital innovation leader who currently advises many News CEOs, spoke about the reality from the trenches where her current clients often express anxiety about the lack of clarity about where things are going which has led many news organisations to be slow or to fall back on a dependency on Big Tech so as not to fall foul of any interpretation of regulation.
Postive role for AI? Participants expressed a series of concerns about the AI world in terms of media sustainability, trust and disinformation as well as copyright concerns. There were many open questions about how regulation could or would play a positive force in the ecosystem overall.
It was acknowledged that AI tools could be positive and help freedom of expression and legitimate news organisations but this was tempered by concerns of how bad actors would use these tools and ignore any regulations. This led to a discussion about journalisms role in explaining AI to a wider audience, while things are moving so quickly - no easy task!
Sonja Schwetje of RTL Deutschland observed that while most media organisations have shown an immense effort catering to the preferences of younger audiences in terms of how and where to provide their content, there remains an ambiguity between balanced, impartial journalistic information and polarising, opinion-based content, with the latter being promoted much more via algorithms.
-- Play
-- --
Dialogue between all parties Some participants felt that the regulation system had failed news organisations by not protecting IP enough and worried that this would lead to a collapse of more news organisations which would then lead to undermining the AI models themselves. A point was made that much of news is based on so-called derivative content and thus based on the work of others, so news organisations have always done this and therefore need to acknowledge that first, before lecturing to tech companies.
The importance of dialogue between regulators, news organisations and tech companies was a recurring theme, especially as existing regulations may not be sufficient to address the challenges and speed of developments posed by AI. Is there a way to co-regulate holistically? Alexandru Giboi of The European Alliance of News Agencies made the point that more mutual understanding between tech & media companies could lead to better problem-solving in the future.
-- Play
-- --
There was a sidebar on the value of news: to society and also to tech companies. An observation was made that tech companies value news using the metric of revenue to them (which is de minimis) while news organisations judge their value in terms of societal value and importance to democracy. Thus, if the two sides are using different measures, they will never agree.
If news organisations believed they were so important to democracy, then they were challenged to try to speak with one voice to regulators as otherwise, their perspectives would not be understood nor factored in well enough. The difficulty is that there are multiple views on the multiple issues, including from within a single news organisation so getting to a singular would be very, very hard. But perhaps the potential existential challenge faced by the news ecosystem would drive different, more collaborative behaviour than in the past. And news organisations were also advised not to be slow, as it had been in the past.
In terms of solutions, a few were discussed, including:
Public education initiatives to raise awareness of AI and its potential pitfalls.
Investment in media literacy programs to help people critically evaluate information online.
Development of new economic models for the media industry that can thrive in the digital age.
Finding a balance between technological advancement, ethical considerations, and media viability will be crucial in the years to come in finding the right regulation to regulate AI and the news ecosystem.
Madhav Chinnappa Thomson Talks
Madhav Chinnappa, the former Director of News Ecosystem Development at Google and veteran news executive, leads our Thought Leadership events Thomson Talks.
Explore our projects across the globe
Most recent headlines
13/03/2025
Every time airborne law enforcement (ALE) teams fly, they expect their equipment to perform. Whether airborne units are conducting support for ground teams, bor...
13/03/2025
Sunday February 9 saw the annual return of the US' biggest television event, the Super Bowl LIX. Jamie McCombs, Fox Sports Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio capt...
13/03/2025
On Sunday March 2, stars across the film industry gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 97th Academy Awards. Production Sound Mixer Paul Sandweis...
13/03/2025
WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications will feature its new StageLink family of smart edge devices, Smart Audio and Mixing Engine (SAME) and Virtual Smart Pan...
13/03/2025
TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring ...
13/03/2025
DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage P...
13/03/2025
FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Lif...
13/03/2025
CTIA, the wireless industry association, has named former FCC Chairman Aji Pai as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. He replaces Mere...
13/03/2025
he National Association of Broadcasters is urging the FCC to end its investigation of that controversial CBS interview with Kamala Harris stating there is no ...
13/03/2025
MIAMI CBS News & Stations continues to expand its use of augmented and virtual reality technologies with the planned launch of an augmented reality/virtual real...
13/03/2025
Srividhya Srinivasan, co-founder and chief customer success & innovation Officer at Amagi, tells TVBEurope how staying ahead of the latest trends is essential f...
13/03/2025
WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...
13/03/2025
SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...
13/03/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...
13/03/2025
TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...
13/03/2025
Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions.
...
13/03/2025
We asked the questions, analysed the answers and now we're excited to share the results of the fifth edition of the ICG Marketing Survey.
Our 2025 survey p...
13/03/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 13, 2025 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced a breakthrough in video streaming innovation with the launch of new origin capabilitie...
13/03/2025
Haivision Showcases Mission-Critical Video Solutions at SOF Week 2025
Haivision's video wall systems, ISR technology, and DoDIN APL-certified video distri...
13/03/2025
Company Leads the Way with New Software-Based Production Platform, 12G Switcher,...
13/03/2025
A new Apple Immersive concert experience, Metallica, is coming to Apple Vision Pro this Friday, March 14. Filmed in Mexico City during the sold-out second-year ...
13/03/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
Shake your Shamrocks, Patrick Kielty will be...
13/03/2025
This St. Patrick's weekend, RT invites you to celebrate all things Irish, showcasing the very best of Irish sport, entertainment and live coverage from the...
13/03/2025
What's next in AI is at GTC 2025. Not only the technology, but the people and ideas that are pushing AI forward - creating new opportunities, novel solution...
13/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
By combining T-Mobile's robust network, Thal...
13/03/2025
Bundle up - GeForce NOW is bringing a flurry of Blizzard titles to its ever-expanding library.
Prepare to weather epic gameplay in the cloud, tackling the genr...
13/03/2025
AI is leveling up the world's most beloved games, as the latest advancements...
13/03/2025
PC game modding is massive, with over 5 billion mods downloaded annually. Mods p...
12/03/2025
O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...
12/03/2025
Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...
12/03/2025
Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...
12/03/2025
Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...
12/03/2025
More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report
NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...
12/03/2025
GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...
12/03/2025
BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....
12/03/2025
LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...
12/03/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....
12/03/2025
Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
High-capacity switch enhances existi...
12/03/2025
DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...
12/03/2025
SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally...
12/03/2025
Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations A total of $17,000 will be distributed among the Boston-based nonprofits.
By
Madd...
12/03/2025
TVBEuropes Jenny Priestley sits down with new SMPTE president Richard Welsh to discuss his aims for the organisation going forward, its efforts to attract a you...
12/03/2025
The new process has significantly enhanced operational efficiencies, with automation freeing up creators to concentrate on higher value tasks
By Matthew Corrig...
12/03/2025
Jellyfish Pictures, which has offices in London and Sheffield, said it has been battling hard in the face of strong headwinds over the last 12 months
By Jenny ...
12/03/2025
Visit Booth #W2213 to Experience the Latest in AI-Driven Content Discovery and Workflow Automation
Bitcentral, a leader in media workflow solutions, is set to ...
12/03/2025
CHICAGO Jeff Lilly has been named WGN-TV director of technology effective March 17, 2025, according to Ric Harris, WGN-TV vice president and general manager....
12/03/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. A new study from LG Ad Solutions indicates that consumers want more features that would allow them to shop for products on the connected T...
12/03/2025
BOTHELL, Wash. The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) will once again present...
12/03/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast announced that it has upgraded Xfinity Internet speeds for more than 20 million customers for no additional cost....
12/03/2025
Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14
Brie Clayton March 11, 2025
0 Comments
Makin' Waffles with Elly Wade
During Marc...