Periodic Reporting for period 3 - AI4Media (A European Excellence Centre for Media, Society and Democracy)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-09-01 bis 2024-08-31
Following a series of breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence, new technologies are emerging, ushering innovations in all aspects of business and society, impacting also the media, journalism and politics.
The media market is already benefiting from AI support across the value chain, including tools & services for information analysis, media editing, content generation, content optimisation, content recommendation, audience preferences analysis, etc. Society and politics are also affected by AI while concerns are rising that the combination of the power of major social media platforms and other AI technology companies with the large-scale automation capabilities of AI could prove detrimental to society and democracy.
AI technologies are disrupting the media industry through advances in content creation, analysis, and distribution, by enhancing user experience but also by offering deeper insights into complex social processes that unfold online or offline. AI technology could help shape the democratic role of media by enabling new ways of being informed, of entertainment, artistic creation, political participation, and decision making. In addition, AI could support the relationship between media providers and their audiences, helping to align with the needs of media users, and also cut down operating costs and free up resources for more in-depth and quality work. In addition, AI can create opportunities for the better realization of public values like media diversity, freedom of expression, and inclusiveness.
Motivated by these challenges, risks and opportunities, AI4Media aimed to i) deliver the next generation of AI technologies for the media, ii) ensure the development of ethical and trustworthy AI, and iii) reimagine AI as a human-centred, trusted and beneficial enabling technology for media and society.
These goals were successfully achieved by setting and accomplishing the following strategic objectives:
• Define Europe's research agenda for media AI, monitor AI impact, provide policy analysis & recommendations, and establish an AI Media Observatory.
• Extend Europe's expertise in AI for media, focusing on four areas: (1) emerging ML paradigms, decentralised learning and AI at the Edge; (2) robustness, fairness, explainability, and privacy in AI; (3) AI for multimedia content analysis & creation; and (4) human- & society-centred AI technologies.
• Contribute to the development of a European ethical brand of AI for media applications.
• Establish the International AI Doctoral Academy, a PhD programme on AI.
• Support and enrich the European AI on Demand platform.
• Integrate AI tools in real-world media industry applications and workflows through seven use cases.
The media market is already benefiting from AI support across the value chain, including tools & services for information analysis, media editing, content generation, content optimisation, content recommendation, audience preferences analysis, etc. Society and politics are also affected by AI while concerns are rising that the combination of the power of major social media platforms and other AI technology companies with the large-scale automation capabilities of AI could prove detrimental to society and democracy.
AI technologies are disrupting the media industry through advances in content creation, analysis, and distribution, by enhancing user experience but also by offering deeper insights into complex social processes that unfold online or offline. AI technology could help shape the democratic role of media by enabling new ways of being informed, of entertainment, artistic creation, political participation, and decision making. In addition, AI could support the relationship between media providers and their audiences, helping to align with the needs of media users, and also cut down operating costs and free up resources for more in-depth and quality work. In addition, AI can create opportunities for the better realization of public values like media diversity, freedom of expression, and inclusiveness.
Motivated by these challenges, risks and opportunities, AI4Media aimed to i) deliver the next generation of AI technologies for the media, ii) ensure the development of ethical and trustworthy AI, and iii) reimagine AI as a human-centred, trusted and beneficial enabling technology for media and society.
These goals were successfully achieved by setting and accomplishing the following strategic objectives:
• Define Europe's research agenda for media AI, monitor AI impact, provide policy analysis & recommendations, and establish an AI Media Observatory.
• Extend Europe's expertise in AI for media, focusing on four areas: (1) emerging ML paradigms, decentralised learning and AI at the Edge; (2) robustness, fairness, explainability, and privacy in AI; (3) AI for multimedia content analysis & creation; and (4) human- & society-centred AI technologies.
• Contribute to the development of a European ethical brand of AI for media applications.
• Establish the International AI Doctoral Academy, a PhD programme on AI.
• Support and enrich the European AI on Demand platform.
• Integrate AI tools in real-world media industry applications and workflows through seven use cases.
The results achieved include:
• AI4Media Strategic Research Agenda on AI for the media industry.
• Overview of EU policies & regulation on AI, complemented by a technical roadmap on AI technologies & applications for the media, an analysis of the societal, economic and political impact of media AI, and relevant policy recommendations.
• Novel techniques for online learning, transfer learning, quality diversity, AI at the edge; for multimedia content analysis & production; for Generative AI and LLMs; and for deepfake detection, political debate analysis, detection of perceptions of hyper-local news, etc. Also, novel tools to enhance AI robustness, fairness, explainability and privacy, complemented by an analysis of the legal & ethical framework for trusted AI, and a platform for AI benchmarking. This research resulted in >430 publications, >45 open datasets and >110 open software.
• Contribution of ~200 assets to the European AI on Demand platform and >50 models to the AI-Builder marketplace; analysis of platform liability/responsibility for third party content; and organization of the AI-Cafe series.
• Definition of 7 use cases to showcase how AI can transform the media. 11 use case demonstrators endowed with new AI functionalities were developed and evaluated, complemented by 9 white papers offering insights on how to align AI research with media industry needs.
• Establishment of the International AI Doctoral Academy (AIDA) together with VISION, TAILOR, HumanE-AI-Net, and ELISE (80 members, 160 lecturers, 243 students, 82 courses, >320 educational resources) and launch of the Junior Fellows Exchange program that funded 88 exchanges.
• Funding of 20 innovative projects, after evaluation of >150 proposals submitted to two AI4Media Open Calls.
• Establishment of the AI Media Observatory and the AI4Media Virtual Centre of Excellence (VCoE).
To disseminate these outcomes to different target groups, we produced >20 factsheets/booklets and >80 videos, launched >100 social media campaigns and 6 newsletters, and created a Resources Library to share documents, data and code. We also laid out exploitation plans for 80 exploitable outcomes and ensured the sustainability of AIDA, the Observatory and the VCoE.
• AI4Media Strategic Research Agenda on AI for the media industry.
• Overview of EU policies & regulation on AI, complemented by a technical roadmap on AI technologies & applications for the media, an analysis of the societal, economic and political impact of media AI, and relevant policy recommendations.
• Novel techniques for online learning, transfer learning, quality diversity, AI at the edge; for multimedia content analysis & production; for Generative AI and LLMs; and for deepfake detection, political debate analysis, detection of perceptions of hyper-local news, etc. Also, novel tools to enhance AI robustness, fairness, explainability and privacy, complemented by an analysis of the legal & ethical framework for trusted AI, and a platform for AI benchmarking. This research resulted in >430 publications, >45 open datasets and >110 open software.
• Contribution of ~200 assets to the European AI on Demand platform and >50 models to the AI-Builder marketplace; analysis of platform liability/responsibility for third party content; and organization of the AI-Cafe series.
• Definition of 7 use cases to showcase how AI can transform the media. 11 use case demonstrators endowed with new AI functionalities were developed and evaluated, complemented by 9 white papers offering insights on how to align AI research with media industry needs.
• Establishment of the International AI Doctoral Academy (AIDA) together with VISION, TAILOR, HumanE-AI-Net, and ELISE (80 members, 160 lecturers, 243 students, 82 courses, >320 educational resources) and launch of the Junior Fellows Exchange program that funded 88 exchanges.
• Funding of 20 innovative projects, after evaluation of >150 proposals submitted to two AI4Media Open Calls.
• Establishment of the AI Media Observatory and the AI4Media Virtual Centre of Excellence (VCoE).
To disseminate these outcomes to different target groups, we produced >20 factsheets/booklets and >80 videos, launched >100 social media campaigns and 6 newsletters, and created a Resources Library to share documents, data and code. We also laid out exploitation plans for 80 exploitable outcomes and ensured the sustainability of AIDA, the Observatory and the VCoE.
AI4Media advances the state of the art by performing cutting-edge research on new learning paradigms and AI at the edge, trustworthy AI, AI for multimedia content analysis & production, and human- and society-centred AI, thus strengthening Europe’s position as an AI research powerhouse. The AI4Media Strategic Research Agenda lays out a strategic plan for AI for the media and is a useful reference for AI researchers, media practitioners and policymakers.
In addition, through 7 use cases focusing on different media sectors (news, video production & content automation, games, content organisation & moderation, human co-creation) but also on significant societal problems (disinformation, media study through social sciences), AI4Media integrates AI technologies in real-world applications thus creating new business models and opportunities for the media sector.
For the news industry specifically, AI4Media delivers key benefits across the whole value chain. Besides simplifying/automating tedious workflows, AI can enable new workflows and services that were previously not affordable or feasible, e.g. efficient hyperlocal news, or advanced personalised services. This frees resources for high-value tasks like investigative journalism, creating new knowledge and big data insights, allowing for better reuse of media archives, and improved efficiency and diversity of coverage. Also, the tools for disinformation detection support journalistic fact-checking and verification and counteract the serious threats that disinformation poses on democratic institutions.
Through the AI Media Observatory, European media, research and policy organisations can have access to high-quality expert analysis and recommendations on AI policy, technology, applications, and impact.
AI4Media strengthens the European AI community by a) making available the project’s outcomes on the AI on Demand platform; b) organizing workshops on different AI topics; and c) funding with 1M euros 20 innovative project ideas through two open calls, supporting researchers and SMEs to develop novel AI techniques & applications for the media.
The establishment of the AI Doctoral Academy reinforces Europe’s research capacity in AI and enriches the education offer to equip ICT and media professionals with AI skills. AIDA fosters young talent and provides them the opportunity to contribute to the development of ethical AI, conduct industry-relevant research, and establish career links that will allow finding employment in the EU.
In addition, through 7 use cases focusing on different media sectors (news, video production & content automation, games, content organisation & moderation, human co-creation) but also on significant societal problems (disinformation, media study through social sciences), AI4Media integrates AI technologies in real-world applications thus creating new business models and opportunities for the media sector.
For the news industry specifically, AI4Media delivers key benefits across the whole value chain. Besides simplifying/automating tedious workflows, AI can enable new workflows and services that were previously not affordable or feasible, e.g. efficient hyperlocal news, or advanced personalised services. This frees resources for high-value tasks like investigative journalism, creating new knowledge and big data insights, allowing for better reuse of media archives, and improved efficiency and diversity of coverage. Also, the tools for disinformation detection support journalistic fact-checking and verification and counteract the serious threats that disinformation poses on democratic institutions.
Through the AI Media Observatory, European media, research and policy organisations can have access to high-quality expert analysis and recommendations on AI policy, technology, applications, and impact.
AI4Media strengthens the European AI community by a) making available the project’s outcomes on the AI on Demand platform; b) organizing workshops on different AI topics; and c) funding with 1M euros 20 innovative project ideas through two open calls, supporting researchers and SMEs to develop novel AI techniques & applications for the media.
The establishment of the AI Doctoral Academy reinforces Europe’s research capacity in AI and enriches the education offer to equip ICT and media professionals with AI skills. AIDA fosters young talent and provides them the opportunity to contribute to the development of ethical AI, conduct industry-relevant research, and establish career links that will allow finding employment in the EU.