The media and services group Bertelsmann sees the opportunities of artificial intelligence primarily in increasing efficiency.

"This is the next quantum leap in terms of productivity and therefore also a source of overall economic growth," said Group CFO Rolf Hellermann in an interview with the Reuters news agency published on Monday. However, there are also risks in terms of fake news. "I see the greatest danger in the fact that the truth could get lost," said the 46-year-old, who is also responsible for the Tech&Data division on the Group Management Board. "It is becoming increasingly difficult to recognize whether a news item, text or image is actually true."

The role of quality journalism will become even more important. "As media companies, we have a great responsibility for curated and fact-checked content," emphasized Hellermann. "After all, AI algorithms sometimes tend to say things that may or may not be true."

So-called generative AI - programs such as ChatGPT that simulate human interactions and can create texts or images based on keywords - raises many questions, especially for the creative community, said Hellermann. "What about the authorship of AI-based content?" This ultimately comes from models that have been trained with data, which in turn could be protected by copyright. "We are also keeping a very close eye on authors, AI-based music and AI-written music," explained the manager.

Bertelsmann also owns Penguin Random House, the world's largest publishing house, and the music subsidiary BMG. As a media company, you have to represent and protect the interests and rights of your artists, said Hellermann. "The question of copyright is difficult and will certainly also occupy legislators and courts." Bertelsmann's biggest revenue generator is the television subsidiary RTL Group with over 50 TV channels and 36 radio stations.

Bertelsmann sees more opportunities than risks in artificial intelligence, Hellermann signaled. "The big disruption is that AI applications have become market-ready so incredibly quickly." New technologies are being used, for example, in the automated synchronization of TV shows. "Lip movements are adapted to speech and not the other way around." This changes the video and not just the audio track. "We are experimenting with this." This is relevant for the RTL production subsidiary Fremantle." The service subsidiary Arvato also helps customers to improve processes using AI-supported services. "Of course, this also affects our own business processes," Hellermann admitted.

HEAD IN THE SAND? "THEN WE WILL QUICKLY BE LEFT BEHIND"

Industry experts assume that many jobs at Bertelsmann and other companies, for example in accounting, could be lost in the future due to automation. This may even come in handy for some companies, as they are feeling the shortage of skilled workers.

Experts see the risk that cheap, AI-produced content could take readers and listeners away from media companies. At Bertelsmann, this would affect music, books and news content. Many experts in the industry assume that the use of chatbots and AI will revolutionize customer service and lead to more automation. Bertelsmann is in the process of selling its 39.5 percent stake in the call center operator Majorel to the French company Teleperformance. Against the backdrop of increasing AI applications, this could be a good time.

Bertelsmann itself has stakes in more than 20 AI companies. "We are doing this out of financial interest, but also to find out about developments on the market and to see which things can be used for our business," said the CFO. "We will certainly also use many of these models as a customer on the user side."

When it comes to regulation, the EU must provide a legal framework, said Hellermann. "But the corset must not be too tight either - for example with data protection regulations that are too strict." After all, companies must also be able to develop further in order to remain internationally competitive. "If we just bury our heads in the sand now, let everyone else do it and don't get involved, then we will quickly be left behind."

(Edited by Olaf Brenner. If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)

- by Klaus Lauer