Newshound: A Sub‐Project of Companion
Newshound is an innovative project designed to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and news reporting, with the goal of creating emotionally resonant, relatable news summaries. At its core, Newshound aims to bridge the gap between the often impersonal nature of automation and the human need for connection, empathy, and understanding. Rather than simply generating dry, factual content, Newshound produces summaries that feel conversational, approachable, and engaging—emulating the emotional nuances that human journalists might bring to their work.
While the technology behind Newshound is advanced, its focus is on a clear mission: to demonstrate that AI can go beyond just processing information and can contribute meaningfully to the way we consume and interact with news. The project challenges traditional notions of what AI can achieve in the realm of media, aiming to prove that it can be both an efficient tool and an empathetic companion in helping people stay informed.
Through its development, Newshound seeks to spark broader conversations about the role of AI in society, encouraging reflection on the ethical use of technology, the balance between automation and human oversight, and the responsibilities of AI creators in shaping a more thoughtful and connected future. The project’s commitment to creating ethical, neutral, and responsible summaries highlights its dedication to adding value to public discourse, providing news in a way that is both accurate and deeply human.
Please use this invite link to invite Newshound to your Discord server.
Newshound thrives due to the generous support of private sponsors, ensuring that it remains free from the influence of academia or corporate grants. This independence allows Newshound to continue its mission of delivering unbiased, thoughtful, and accurate news coverage without external pressures. Every sponsorship contribution goes directly towards the continued development and enhancement of Newshound, helping to refine its capabilities and expand its reach.
The future of Newshound is bright, with plans for a multi-language expansion on the horizon. As support grows, so too will its potential to serve a wider audience, offering a more inclusive and accessible news experience across the globe.
If your website content has been summarized and you wish to have your site excluded from future summaries, please submit a request via a GitHub issue. This process is intended only for websites that have already been summarized.
Once your request is received, I will promptly review it and remove your website from the summarization process. No further summaries will be generated for your site following the removal.
Please ensure your request includes:
- The URL of the summarized content.
- Confirmation that you are the authorized representative of the site.
I am committed to addressing removal requests swiftly and respectfully.
This system is designed to deliver accurate and relevant news summaries, but real-time updates are not possible due to several constraints. The first limitation arises from the data sources themselves. Many news agencies impose strict rules on how often their feeds can be accessed. For instance, some providers only allow access once every eight hours, regardless of breaking events. Attempting to access these feeds more frequently can result in permanent bans, which would prevent any future updates from those sources.
In addition to the limitations on data retrieval, there is a need to prioritize and process the news. With a high volume of content flowing in, careful curation is essential to ensure that the most important and relevant stories are selected for publication. This step, while necessary for maintaining quality, adds to the time it takes for news to reach users.
Finally, the platform where the news is published also imposes rate limits. For example, on BlueSky, posts are restricted to a specific number per day, requiring careful scheduling to ensure compliance. These limits mean that even once news is curated and ready for sharing, it cannot always be posted immediately.
These restrictions are in place to ensure that the system remains functional and compliant with the policies of all involved platforms. While delays are inevitable, the focus is placed on prioritizing accuracy and relevance within these boundaries, offering the best possible experience despite the constraints.
Testing Newshound AI through news summaries exemplifies the best practices for ethical and transparent AI development. Unlike many other technologies, such as self-driving cars that were deployed with minimal public testing and dire consequences, Newshound operates in a controlled, low-risk environment. News articles serve as the ideal dataset, offering diverse, real-world content that challenges the AI’s ability to identify key points and present concise, unbiased summaries. Importantly, these articles are never used for training the AI, ensuring its outputs are generated dynamically and free from any pre-ingested biases. Furthermore, Newshound always cites the original source, encouraging readers to verify the integrity of the summaries by visiting the source material directly. This not only reinforces accountability but also fosters critical engagement with the information presented.
The use of news content as a testing ground for AI has been well litigated as fair use, making it a legally sound and ethically responsible choice. News articles are inherently public and created for broad dissemination, making them an ideal medium for evaluating AI capabilities without infringing on intellectual property rights. This stands in stark contrast to the development of self-driving cars, where testing has often been conducted in secrecy, resulting in unproven systems being deployed in real-world scenarios with devastating consequences. By comparison, Newshound AI’s transparent approach ensures that every iteration is tested openly, with feedback from users shaping its refinement.
The public testing of Newshound AI also underscores the value of learning from mistakes in a setting where consequences are manageable. A flawed summary or an unpopular source choice may prompt criticism, but it offers invaluable insights for improvement without risking harm. Encouraging readers to engage with original sources not only builds trust but also helps maintain a broader understanding of the context, reducing the risk of misinformation. Unlike self-driving cars, which failed to undergo sufficient scrutiny before being allowed on roads, Newshound prioritizes transparency and public involvement, demonstrating how AI development can be conducted responsibly. It is far better to face constructive criticism over a news summary than to grapple with the life-threatening consequences of deploying inadequately tested technology, making Newshound a model for ethical innovation.
Suorces for fair use litigation:
- Summaries of Fair Use Cases
- New York Times Company v. Sullivan
- Copyright Fair Use Cases of the United States Supreme Court
AI-generated summaries have demonstrated significant potential to enhance website and platform traffic by addressing two key factors: accessibility and user engagement. Newshound aims to harness these benefits to empower communities and content creators while maintaining ethical and transparent practices.
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Enhanced Accessibility:
- AI summaries distill complex or lengthy articles into concise, digestible formats, allowing users to quickly grasp essential information. This efficiency is particularly appealing to audiences with limited time, drawing in a broader user base.
- Summaries also improve accessibility for users with varying literacy levels or language proficiencies, ensuring inclusivity.
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Improved Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
- By creating summary content that highlights keywords and key topics, AI tools like Newshound can enhance a site's visibility in search engine results.
- The inclusion of metadata and structured data in summaries further boosts discoverability, attracting organic traffic.
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Increased User Retention:
- Concise summaries serve as entry points to full articles, enticing users to explore original content. By linking directly to source material, AI summaries not only credit original creators but also encourage traffic back to their platforms.
- Regular updates with fresh summaries create a reason for users to return to platforms frequently, fostering loyalty.
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Social Media Amplification:
- AI-generated summaries are ideal for sharing on platforms like Twitter, BlueSky, and LinkedIn, where brevity is key. These bite-sized insights often outperform full-length articles in terms of shares and interactions, drawing users to the original content.
Emerging research highlights the measurable impact of AI summaries on traffic growth:
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Time Efficiency Correlates with Engagement:
Studies reveal that users are more likely to engage with summaries that provide immediate value. A 2023 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 62% of respondents preferred summarized news for its time-saving nature, leading to increased click-through rates. -
Content Discoverability on Social Media:
An analysis by BuzzSumo reported that news links accompanied by concise summaries achieved up to 47% higher engagement on platforms like Twitter compared to links without context. -
Traffic Redirection and Original Content:
Platforms utilizing AI summaries to link back to original articles experienced a 35% increase in page visits, according to a 2024 study published in the Journal of Digital Media Strategies.
While AI summaries present clear benefits for traffic generation, Newshound remains committed to ethical practices:
- Respect for Copyright: Summaries always credit original sources, ensuring creators receive proper recognition and traffic.
- Avoiding Clickbait: Summaries emphasize accuracy and relevance, avoiding misleading or sensationalized content to attract clicks.
Newshound envisions AI not as a competitor but as a collaborator for content creators, offering tools to enhance visibility and engagement. By empowering users with digestible, empathetic summaries and encouraging thoughtful redirection to original content, Newshound helps to foster an ecosystem of mutual benefit between AI and human journalism.
Newshound's seamless integration with Discord allows it to operate efficiently within servers, creating a user-friendly environment for news dissemination and interaction. Here, we delve into the specific features and processes that make Newshound's Discord presence robust and effective.
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Dynamic Channel Creation:
Upon connecting to a Discord server, Newshound first checks for the existence of a NewsHound category. If this category is not found, it is automatically created to house news-related content. The category is set to read-only for regular users to ensure a controlled, organized environment. -
Classifying and Grouping News:
Newshound processes incoming news articles, classifying them based on content and relevance. For each classified article, a dedicated channel is automatically generated, grouping related news topics to facilitate user interaction and discussion. -
Automated Cleanup:
To prevent server clutter and adhere to Discord’s channel limits, Newshound manages channel lifecycles:- Channels that have not received a news update within three days are automatically deleted.
- If the server reaches its maximum allowed channels, Newshound removes the oldest channel to make space for new, timely news updates.
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Commands to control Newshound in your Discord server. IMPORTANT: Check your typing before you submit your command. Newshound IMMEDIATELY deletes any command the server owner issues. Only server owners can issue commands.
- #nh# - Verify server permissions
- #nh+ - Add topic to exclusion list. If the channel is in your Newshound category, it will be deleted as well. Example: #nh+cryptocurrencies Case does not matter, nor does a space after the command.
- #nh- - Remove a topic from the exclusion list. Same rules as addition. Example: #nh-cryptocurrencies
- #nh* - List current exclusions for this server.
This dynamic management of channels ensures that servers remain clean, organized, and responsive to ongoing events.
Due to platform-specific restrictions, Newshound’s ability to post on Discord is subject to careful scheduling:
- News summaries are shared within defined intervals to ensure that the posting rate remains within the allowed limits for the server.
- Depending on the number of stories and the server's configuration, Newshound balances its output to avoid spamming or overwhelming users with constant updates.
This disciplined approach ensures that users receive timely updates without the risk of overwhelming the server.
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User-Friendly Summaries:
Newshound’s summaries are crafted to resonate with Discord users. These summaries use a conversational tone, ensuring that content feels natural and engaging. The empathetic language employed by Newshound fosters positive user interaction, creating a space where members feel heard and informed. -
Transparent Source Attribution:
Newshound always includes links to original sources, promoting transparency and ethical content sharing. This ensures that users not only receive summaries but also have direct access to the full stories, should they wish to explore them further.
Newshound is designed to encourage collaborative engagement within Discord servers:
- As new news articles are processed, users are invited to discuss and analyze the stories, promoting conversation and critical thinking.
- Community channels can be dedicated to specific themes or topics, with Newshound acting as both a facilitator of information and a springboard for discussions.
By integrating AI-powered news with social interaction, Newshound fosters a dynamic and informed community that blends technology with human connection.
Newshound's integration with Discord operates with a strict adherence to ethical standards:
- Moderation: The system ensures that content is appropriate, relevant, and respectful of community guidelines.
- Rate Limiting Compliance: By adhering to rate limits, Newshound ensures that it operates responsibly within Discord’s framework, preventing overload or spamming.
- Transparency: Every news summary is linked to the original source, ensuring proper credit is given to journalists and content creators.
Newshound operates within the framework and guidelines set by BlueSky, a platform known for its strict policies and rate limits on bot activity. To ensure smooth and compliant functionality, Newshound adheres to BlueSky's specific requirements, notably its hard cap of 11,666 posts per day, which translates to a posting frequency limit of one post every 10 seconds. This stringent restriction is designed to prevent excessive strain on the platform's infrastructure and ensure fair usage.
Due to these constraints, Newshound does not provide real-time updates but instead delivers curated, high-quality news summaries within the platform’s limits. While this means that updates may not be instantaneous, Newshound’s design prioritizes reliability and consistency, ensuring that news summaries are delivered on time and in compliance with BlueSky's policies. The careful scheduling and management of posts ensure that the platform can continue to operate smoothly, without violating the established limits or risking penalties.
The project’s approach reflects its commitment to responsible bot operation, always staying within the bounds of BlueSky's guidelines while still providing valuable, well-crafted news content to its users.
The integration of AI into media and communication raises important societal challenges:
- Bias and Neutrality: By training on historical data, Newshound minimizes bias while providing accurate summaries.
- Ethical Considerations: A strict adherence to copyright laws and ethical AI guidelines ensures the integrity of the system.
- Human Accountability: Newshound is designed to complement, not replace, human journalists, recognizing the irreplaceable value of human oversight in content creation.
Newshound’s development touches upon the broader implications of AI in society, including its potential to reshape industries and influence culture. By fostering conversations around responsible AI usage, Newshound aims to empower communities to harness these technologies ethically and effectively.
- Educational Tools: Students and educators can use Newshound for quick summaries, saving time while ensuring understanding.
- Accessible News Consumption: Individuals with limited time or accessibility challenges can rely on Newshound for digestible, empathetic news insights.
- Community Engagement: By integrating into Discord servers, Newshound encourages users to discuss and analyze current events collaboratively.
Feedback is vital to the evolution of Newshound. Users are encouraged to share their experiences, critiques, and ideas for improvement. This collaborative spirit ensures that the system remains adaptable and aligned with community needs.
Newshound’s philosophical foundation is encapsulated in this guiding principle:
"A tool in the hands of a master craftsman can create masterpieces, but in the hands of a psychopath, it can lead to destruction."
Through innovation and introspection, Newshound seeks to empower humanity to wield AI responsibly and creatively.
For those interested in exploring the ethical, legal, and societal aspects of AI, the following resources provide valuable insights:
- Artificial Intelligence, Free Speech, and the First Amendment
- US State-by-State Artificial Intelligence Legislation Snapshot
- AI Bill of Rights by the White House
- FCC Proposals for AI-Generated Calls and Texts
By engaging with Newshound, we take a step closer to understanding and shaping the future of AI-driven communication. Your contributions to this ongoing dialogue are both welcomed and essential.