Digital Autonomy that Fits

Media companies are increasingly dependent on AI and cloud technology to distribute news. Much of this technology is controlled by a small number of predominantly American tech companies, such as Google and Microsoft. This gives these companies growing influence over how people find news and other information, potentially putting the independence of news media and the diversity of the media landscape under pressure.

At the same time, tech companies use news content to train and improve their own AI products. These products increasingly allow people to find information and read news without visiting the original source. As a result, tech companies are increasingly competing with news media as sources of information. This makes it all the more important for news media to retain control over how their content reaches the public. Greater digital autonomy can help them do so.

Digital autonomy for news media

In the Digital Autonomy that Fits project, Waag Futurelab works with the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, De Correspondent and Follow the Money to explore how news media can gain more control over their own technology and content. The project explores open source tools and European language models as alternatives to technology provided by large tech companies.

Waag and its project partners test existing European language models and other tools together with news media and their audiences. They are also developing an interface that allows people to search the digital archives of De Correspondent and Follow the Money. Through this work, the project explores what is still needed for news media to make effective use of these technologies.

The findings will be shared with other news media and contribute to the development of digital alternatives for media companies seeking to reduce their dependence on large tech companies. In this way, the project contributes to Waag's mission to investigate emerging technologies and develop alternatives based on public values.