MSN, a former Microsoft web portal, has undergone many changes since its first launch in 1995, on behalf of The Microsoft Network. For most of the first decade of the 21st century, he provided original articles and links to other services, such as weather forecasts and email. In 2014, he stopped producing stories on his own and began assigning a team of editors to select, adapt, and highlight stories produced by external media partners. In late June, The Seattle Times reported that it would readjust, lay off nearly 50 employees and replace them with artificial intelligence algorithms that determine the best stories, rewrite titles and find the best images, and effectively automate most of the tasks that humans have performed so far.
The decision will send a chill down the spine of many professionals in the publishing industry, who have long been concerned about budget cuts and increased automation. A Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement: "Like all companies, we evaluate our business regularly, and this could lead to increased investment in some places and, occasionally, redistribution elsewhere.
These decisions do not they are the result of the current trend. Epidemic. " For Microsoft, the cuts will definitely translate into financial savings, although the quality of the information provided may also be affected by reduced human oversight. And like some of the expelled employees, who have spoken to The Guardian, they simply haven't cut and pasted on the MSN home page the stories they provided from associated retail outlets. There is still some form of editorial responsibility: publishers are interested, for example, in the pieces meeting their strict internal editorial guidelines on violent or inappropriate content for younger readers.