Powerful workflows and AI tools for the media and broadcast industry

CGI showcased powerful new AI tools for news and radio broadcasters at IBC2023, Amsterdam, on September 15-18. As a leading newsroom and radio system provider in Europe, CGI experts discussed the importance of “human-in-the-loop” workflows, and how the new generation of AI tools can be leveraged as an intelligent assistant optimizing and accelerating existing workflows, an amplifier rather than a replacement of journalistic skills and talent.

Demonstrations at IBC included numerous generative AI use cases in CGI’s proven and proprietary OpenMedia intellectual property solution, including:

  • Research and suggestion: Research topics easily, and swiftly generate story or topic suggestions with multiple angles and iterations.
  • Create summaries: Quickly summarize stories or agency wires for automated output to tickers and headlines.
  • Analysis: Analysis of text content from wires, stories and more to gain deeper insights about individual subjects and generate topic clusters.
  • Create social posts: Generate tweets or other social media posts directly from a story including hashtags.
  • Translation: Translating text content into one or more languages at the same time for multi- lingual output by integrating the DeepLTM translator.
  • Rephrase text: Rephrasing text content to different markets’ demands and needs, quickly generating different scripts, for example, lunchtime news and evening analysis programs.

CGI also highlighted the importance of robust cybersecurity protocols when it comes to implementing both AI and cloud-based workflows in the newsroom. With an increasing number of media organizations already moving their workflows into the cloud where they run securely on CGI’s OpenMedia solution hosted in Microsoft Azure, any additional Azure OpenAl service is simply folded into the established Azure subscription which also means that companies can take full advantage of Azure’s data security.

“In the rush to implement generative AI tools, broadcasters must not lose sight of the best practices that have governed the deployment of new newsroom technology for generations of iterations,” commented Michael Pfitzner, Vice President Consulting Expert at CGI. “As well as the importance of security, integration is a key aspect of the new toolsets, and we have invested considerable effort to ensure that the tools sit seamlessly into our established UIs, maximizing the efficiencies they can bring to teams and journalists throughout the news chain.”

"Generative AI is reshaping and accelerating story-centric news workflows around the world, and while the number of cautionary tales surrounding its deployment is also increasing, this trend also highlights the importance of broadcasters embracing a cautious approach. Maintaining compliance with broadcasting standards and adopting human-in-the-loop workflows is seen as the new gold standard," commented Michael Thielen, Vice President Consulting Services at CGI.

Alongside its AI innovations, CGI also presented solutions shown for the first time at a major European trade show. These included the CGI OpenMedia Metrics, a powerful and lightweight Windows-based monitoring solution, as well as CGI OpenMedia Insights, a business intelligence tool.

On the radio side of the business, CGI featured:

  • The latest updates around dira Dimension, its web-based, cloud-native radio production suite, which can be deployed in various environments, including public or private cloud, on-premises, or hybrid setups. dira Dimension includes a flexible workflow engine, which now integrates with AI for tasks such as automated transcription and text-to-speech functionality. Additionally, it offers a newly designed Workflow Engine Dimension for non-linear distribution and on- demand channels, along with server-based rendering, improving remote workflows and reducing network traffic usage for journalists.
  • An enhanced dira Onair Player with features like a built-in crossfade editor, voice track editor, jingle management tools, and an integrated content browser with time-scaling and loop capabilities.

Also showcased at the CGI booth:

  • CGI Door James, an intelligent workspace management solution, offering real-time occupancy information and streamlined booking processes. It caters specifically to the dynamic broadcasting industry, where efficient asset management and coordination are crucial. This solution aims to transform how broadcasting studios, TV networks, and producers manage their sets, operations, assets, projects and staff.
  • Our integration partner, aiconix, showcased how its AI-based Live Transcription and Translation are used within CGI OpenMedia.

For more information, please visit CGI at IBC2023.