Google gives $1M grant to Press Association to develop robot journalists

New consumers of the future could be reading stories pieced together by advanced data-analyzing robots rather than human journalists, if Google has its way.

On Thursday, the Press Association, the U.K.’s national news agency, announced that it received €706,000 from the tech giant for its Reporters and Data an Robots (RADAR)     1    .

A collaboration between the Press Association and data-driven news start-up Urbs Media, RADAR aims to set up an artificial intelligene-fueled, news service that will generate tens of thousands of news stories a month using publicly     2     data.

Everyone from big-name news organizations to hyper-local outlets and bloggers could     3     from the program. Press Association editor-in-chief Peter Clifton claimed, “this is a hugely exciting development, and we believe our     4     with Urbs Media can be a genuine game-changer for media outlets across the U. K. and Ireland.”

According to the Press Association, RADAR won’t     5     mark the end of the flesh-and-blood journalists, but will rather enable the AI to produce a volume of stories that would be impossible to match manually.

The envisioned work-flow would begin with human journalists identifying open data sets and “creating detailed story templates across a(n)     6     of topics including crime, health and employment.” The robotic reporter would then take over and scan the data, use language generation software to craft together story text and automatically locate relevant photos and video. Press Association clients would then be able to use a special distribution platform to identify news stories of     7     to their audience.

Content automation isn’t a totally     8     concept in the news industry however. AP estimated that it can free up 20 per cent of journalists’ time, allowing them to focus on more complex, qualitative tasks.

Shockingly, not all journalists are sold on the AI infiltration. A study found that journalists from leading news organizations had several reservations when shown an automatically     9     sports story. “I would never, ever, ever have written a story like that,” one BBC journalist said, while a CNN reporter thought the story was repetitive and lacked variation.

Nevertheless, it looks like AI in journalism is here to stay. At a time when many media outlets are     10     commercial pressure, RADAR will provide the news ecosystem with a cost-effective way to provide insightful local stories.

James Watt was born in 1736 in Scotland. Because of his poor health condition, he was unable to attend school     1    . Thus, he received his earliest     2     at home from his mother and in his father’s workshop. At the workshop, Watt     3     a keen interest in tools, instruments and model-making. He later attended grammar school, where he studied Greek, Latin, maths and other     4    . After his mother died, the 18-year-old Watt     5     to London, where he received training as an instrument maker.

Watt’s work with the steam engine (蒸汽机) began in 1769, when he was     6     to repair a Newcomen (纽科门) steam engine. Designed in the early 18th century, the engine was     7     inefficient. But it was better than any other steam engines     8     at that time. James decided to improve its efficiency. He     9     the engine with a separate condenser (冷凝器) to reduce the loss of energy. In 1769, Watt received his first patent for his separate condenser. His improvements to the steam engine were a significant     10     in the Industrial Revolution (工业革命).

Zoos were originally created as places of entertainment, and their suggested involvement with conservation didn’t seriously     1     until about 30 years ago, when the Zoological Society of London held the first formal international meeting on the subject. Eight years later, a series of world conferences took place,     2     ‘The Breeding of Endangered Species’, and from this point onwards conservation became the zoo community’s buzzword. This commitment has now been clearly defined in The World Zoo Conservation Strategy (WZCS)，which –although an important and welcome document- does seem to be based on a/ an     3    optimism about the nature of the zoo industry.

The WZCS estimates that there are about 10000 zoos in the world, of which around 1000     4     a core of quality collections capable of participating in coordinated conservation programs. This is probably the document’s first failing, as I believe that 10000 is a serious reserve of the total number of places which claim to be zoological     5    . Of course it is difficult to get accurate data but, to put the issue into perspective, I have found that in a year of working in Eastern Europe, I discover fresh zoos on almost a weekly basis.

The second flaw in the reasoning of the WZCS document is its naive     6     in its 1000 core zoos. One would assume that the quality of these institutions would have been     7     examined, but it appears that the criterion for inclusion on this select list might merely be that the zoo is a member of a zoo federation or association. This might be a good starting point, working on the basis that members must meet certain standards, but again the facts don’t     8    the theory. The greatly respected American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA) has had extremely dubious, and even notorious (臭名昭著的) members. As they were always a collection of bad reputation, one is obliged to     9    upon the standards that the Zoo Federation sets when granting membership. The situation is even worse in developing countries where little money is     10    for redevelopment.

Cutting Salt May Lower Blood Pressure as Much as Medication

Reducing daily salt intake by just one teaspoon, equivalent to approximately 2,200 milligrams of sodium(钠), can lead to a blood pressure drop comparable to that achieved with prescription antihypertension (抗高血压) medication, reveals a recent study. Conducted on 213 individuals aged 50 to 75, the research included participants both on and off blood pressure medication. Regardless of their initial measurements, all groups experienced a(n)     1     reduction in blood pressure after a week on a low-sodium diet.

The study     2     the common notion that only those not taking medication benefit from salt reduction. Notably, the blood pressure decrease observed was similar to the effect seen when individuals start hypertension medication. The investigation aims to shed light on how excess salt raises blood pressure, aside from the conventional theory of increased water retention causing hypertension.

While sodium is     3     for bodily functions, humans, evolutionarily did not     4     to a high-sodium diet. The average daily sodium intake in the U.S. is around 3,400 milligrams, mainly sourced from     5     and restaurant foods, exceeding the recommended 2,300 milligrams by the FDA. Encouraging people to reduce salt intake proves challenging and experts suggest     6     to lower-sodium options instead of mere reduction. One proposal is transitioning from regular sodium chloride to a blend of 75% sodium chloride and 25% potassium chloride, a form of salt     7     in health food stores.

Changing dietary habits presents a puzzle, but historical precedents, like the introduction of iodized (含碘的) salt in1924 to combat pediatric goiters (儿科甲状腺肿), show that     8     shifts are possible.

Although potassium-supplemented (含钾的) salt may not be mainstream yet, it could become a future staple (基本食物) for those aiming to lower sodium intake. For now, cooking at home and     9     for lower-sodium remain practical     10     for individuals mindful of their salt consumption.