ABC trials AI to write digital news, picks Claude for staff

The ABC is trialling AI tools that turn regional radio bulletins into digital news while rolling out Anthropic's Claude to staff.

What the ABC is trialling

The ABC told staff last month it had updated its AI guidelines, struck a deal with Anthropic, and begun trialling a tool that turns regional radio bulletins into online articles.verifiedVerified Sourced from ABC trials AI writing tools for news staff amid trust warnings (ABC News, Cam Wilson). Executives selected Anthropic's Claude as the broadcaster's standard enterprise-wide AI tool, in addition to existing tools from Microsoft and an in-house chatbot.verifiedVerified Sourced from ABC trials AI writing tools for news staff amid trust warnings (ABC News, Cam Wilson).

The rollout begins with a July pilot involving 100 "AI Champions" from across the organisation before expanding in stages.verifiedVerified Sourced from ABC trials AI writing tools for news staff amid trust warnings (ABC News, Cam Wilson). An ABC spokesperson said current uses of AI included third-party tools for production tasks such as transcription, and an in-house system called ABC Assist for story research and production.

The ABC is recruiting for an AI Adoption Specialist and an Enterprise AI operations and assurance lead, roles it said would support "safe and effective adoption of enterprise AI tools". The broadcaster pointed to a recent investigation that used AI to help uncover patterns of negligence in cases of Indigenous deaths in custody as an example of how AI could help public-interest journalism.

Turning radio bulletins into digital copy

One pilot uses ABC Assist to convert regional radio bulletins into digital articles. Regionally presented and produced bulletins air on more than 40 stations across Australia each weekday, and many of those stories never make it online.

The same local journalists who produce and present regional radio news repurpose the copy into online articles, with review by a local editorial leader and sub-editor for a final check before publication. The ABC said the pilot showed how AI could bring journalism to a wider audience "without significantly adding to the workload of the newsroom teams", and that the reformatted versions are "always fact-checked, edited and approved by our journalists before publication". "The AI tool does not generate any stories," the broadcaster said.

The safeguards the ABC set

The ABC said its principles ensured it did not use AI to create "end-to-end journalism" or publish anything without human oversight. Its published principles commit the broadcaster to use AI to "enhance, not substitute for" the creativity, expertise and editorial judgment of staff, and state that human editorial oversight "is especially important for news, information and factual content, where accuracy is paramount".

A staff member who took part in the pilot, granted anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said the AI made only minor changes to the radio copy. The changes included turning written numbers into digits and condensing phrases, and so far had not introduced factual errors into the copy, the staff member said.

What executives said

Managing director Hugh Marks and chief people officer Deena Amorelli outlined the approach in an all-staff email sent on June 25. "The question facing every public broadcaster is not whether they will use AI, but how they will shape the use of AI on their terms and in line with their values," Mr Marks and Ms Amorelli wrote.

An ABC spokesperson said AI tools offered "significant benefits" to assist its journalism, including "freeing up time for original news-gathering and helping staff do routine tasks more efficiently". "Our trusted news is produced by ABC journalists, distinctive, original journalism that AI cannot replicate," the spokesperson said.

The union's warning

Cassie Derrick, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance director of media, said AI tools used well could free journalists to focus on "the human connection with sources, critical analysis and fact checking that makes quality journalism". She said members at the ABC had raised concerns AI could compromise job security and audience trust.

"ABC management needs to work closely with members to ensure the guardrails around the use of AI enhance journalism and don't undercut it," Ms Derrick said. The concern followed bargaining negotiations in which rules and protections around the technology became a major sticking point.

Staff had won some commitments in recent negotiations, including consultation about AI use and guidelines to maintain journalistic ethics, but management had refused to commit to a provision that AI would not replace human workers, Ms Derrick said. UNSW professor Deborah Lupton, who researches digital society and automated decision-making, said she was strongly opposed to generative AI and believed the ABC risked "putting their standing at risk" by embracing the technology.

Trust and the disclosure change

The ABC remains Australia's most trusted news source even as trust in mainstream media falls, according to polling conducted for the media regulator. Michael Davis, a research fellow at the University of Technology Sydney's Centre for Media Transition, said the ABC had been more cautious than other Australian media companies in audience-facing uses of generative AI.

The broadcaster also changed how it discloses AI use. Its earlier principles said it would inform audiences about how it was using AI technologies, while the current version, updated on June 25, says the ABC will be open with audiences when AI use "could materially affect their understanding" of content.

An ABC spokesperson said an AI-generated image used in news content would need to be disclosed, but using AI to research questions for an interview would not, because it would not directly affect the content presented to the audience. Nine, Seven and News Corp have all rolled out AI tools over the past three years assisting with the production of content used online, Dr Davis said, and failing to capitalise on the technology presented a risk to the ABC.