Nine has outlined its “Principles for AI Use” to staff, stating that the principles are “underpinned by the expertise of our people, and focus on delivering the very best content for our audiences.”
Suzie Cardwell, chief data officer at Nine said in a staff memo the principles are dynamic and “will be constantly reviewed and updated in line with our ongoing business needs, developments in AI technologies and any relevant legislation.”
Cardwell said that FY25 will see a formal AI strategy delivered for Nine.
“This will identify the first areas of generative AI that will make the biggest difference to our people and our audiences,” she said.
“To guide this process, we will be establishing an AI oversight committee that will monitor the principles and guidelines and work with each business unit on responsible and effective AI implementation.”
Nine has outlined five specific principles for its AI use, including that all work will “start and end with humans” stating that “our people take responsibility for their work, including the journalism and content [Nine] produce.”
The company will also critically examine AI-generated output and automated decision-making for accuracy and fairness, as well as ensuring transparency with consumers about the use of data for AI, and “provide reasonable declarations when AI has been used to reformat content.”
Nine will build, train and tune models in a “closed Nine environment” and will ensure the models and data are protected, secured and confidential. It has also mentioned that it may in the future enter into commercial agreements with Large Language Model platform owners and other software vendors to license the use of Nine content.
In developing or implementing an AI tool or model for internal use, the people who use it will be involved in the testing, training and trialling of the technology.
Nine’s principles for AI use come as CEO Mike Sneesby said the company’s eight-year bet on the Olympic and Paralympic Games is paying off.
The Australian Financial Review reports Sneesby saying that the network will bank $135 million in advertising revenue for the upcoming Paris Olympics and insists it will turn a profit.
See also: Nine will bank $135 million in ad revenue for Paris Olympics: Mike Sneesby