WEBVTT 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:02.840 Is AI going to be a threat or is it an opportunity? 00:00:02.840 --> 00:00:03.760 It's probably both. 00:00:05.520 --> 00:00:07.680 We're joined by Marion and Jean-Baptiste. 00:00:07.680 --> 00:00:08.520 Welcome, both. 00:00:08.840 --> 00:00:10.800 Thank you for having us. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:13.280 Marion, everybody at Cannes is talking about AI 00:00:13.280 --> 00:00:16.480 and how it's changing the worlds of marketing and advertising. 00:00:16.720 --> 00:00:19.120 How is it changing the world of news? 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:20.480 Thanks for the question. 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:24.000 I mean, I have the same feeling, like everything at Cannes is about, like, 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:24.640 AI, etcetera. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:27.120 But for marketing, it's one thing, but then for news, 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.200 it's a topic that's very close to my heart. 00:00:29.200 --> 00:00:33.280 And the, and the question is, is AI going to be a threat or is it an opportunity? 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:34.200 It's probably both. 00:00:34.680 --> 00:00:37.680 But if we look at it from the optimistic side, 00:00:37.680 --> 00:00:41.120 then the first play you have is on the productivity. 00:00:41.120 --> 00:00:44.440 Like basically, how do you augment journalists to produce news 00:00:44.440 --> 00:00:47.000 faster, cheaper, and hopefully better? 00:00:47.400 --> 00:00:51.680 There is another play which we are going to talk about, which is about how do you, 00:00:51.680 --> 00:00:53.840 from a content that is produced by a journalist, 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:58.440 make sure that you get the most relevant to your audience and that you reach the 00:00:58.440 --> 00:00:59.360 largest audience. 00:00:59.360 --> 00:01:05.080 And how you can reinvent the way you actually diffuse the news to everyone. 00:01:05.320 --> 00:01:08.320 And then there is another play around monetization, etcetera. 00:01:08.520 --> 00:01:11.520 But we're going to focus on the second one because I think, 00:01:11.520 --> 00:01:14.840 I think that's really an interesting level that AI can accelerate. 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:16.880 Changing the way people access the news. 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:21.760 Well, tell us a bit about that, JB, because you've come up with Max, 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:26.120 which turns written journalism into a sort of an audio-rich experience. 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:28.320 Just explain what was the problem you were trying to solve. 00:01:28.520 --> 00:01:30.920 Sure. Let me start with a personal conviction 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:32.160 that I think you share. 00:01:33.080 --> 00:01:36.920 I believe that written journalism is actually a pillar of democracy, 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:40.520 providing the most detailed, fact-checked, precise information. 00:01:40.800 --> 00:01:43.480 But still, the industry is facing massive challenges 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:46.800 from competition, from platforms, from other media, on audience. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:48.680 So it needs to reinvent itself. 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:51.680 Having said that, we think that audio is part of the 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.120 solution, and this is something we've been 00:01:54.120 --> 00:01:56.040 confirming with consumer insight. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:59.120 Of course, many newspapers already offer some kind 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:02.960 of audio, but usually very poor customer experience, 00:02:02.960 --> 00:02:07.720 robotic voices reading written articles that were not intended to be spoken. 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:12.680 CMM Media Max is a different media experience. 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:19.360 It's providing human fidelity voice quality that you can hardly differentiate 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:21.200 from actual speakers. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:25.080 But more importantly, it's providing a transcription from 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:29.080 written articles to audio, changing the sentences, 00:02:29.080 --> 00:02:32.880 changing the words, adjusting duration and formats, 00:02:32.880 --> 00:02:39.000 but also providing personalization and even an AI agent in order for navigation 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:41.080 and search to be facilitated. 00:02:41.320 --> 00:02:44.400 We just tested the solution in Viva Tech a few days ago, 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:46.400 and the first feedback are fantastic. 00:02:47.480 --> 00:02:49.520 So as a journalist, I'm hugely reassured by this, 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:51.360 that AI isn't going to put us out of a job. 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:54.960 But as a, as a news podcaster, I'm starting to think my days might be 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:55.440 numbered. 00:02:56.480 --> 00:02:59.000 How, when you've, when you've come up with Max, I mean, 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:01.440 just tell us, how have you managed to sort of retain 00:03:01.440 --> 00:03:03.880 journalistic quality, you know, editorial integrity? 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:08.400 I think it's a critical question, because of course there might be a bit of 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:10.880 defiance. And in my opinion, it is threefold. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:14.360 The, the first thing is, Max is not creating content; 00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:15.760 it's creating formats. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:20.360 That means that we always start from a true article, a quality article, 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:22.000 written by a true journalist. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:23.160 That's a very important part. 00:03:23.720 --> 00:03:26.480 Second, all along the product developments, 00:03:26.480 --> 00:03:31.160 we've been involving journalists, especially in the transcription work on 00:03:31.160 --> 00:03:33.200 the algorithm, making sure that they bring, you know, 00:03:33.200 --> 00:03:39.840 nuance and expertise on how to express, in audio quality, what we had in the text. 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:44.920 And I think it was critical for them to feel more confident about the output. 00:03:45.480 --> 00:03:48.160 And third, we developed a workflow management tool. 00:03:48.160 --> 00:03:54.400 Basically, journalists can review, adjust, or even report articles so that 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.720 everything that is published is something they are comfortable with. 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:01.160 So at the end of the day, I think we are augmenting journalists, 00:04:01.160 --> 00:04:03.800 and I believe you have a bright future in front of you. 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:04.720 Thank God for that.