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各位同學，大家好，歡迎和Kevin老師一起精讀外刊，學英語，漲見識。
今天是【最新外刊精讀團】的第12節外刊精讀直播課，要學習的是3月4日《經濟學人》商業版塊的一篇文章，講的是傳統的紙媒出版社將Google等有新媒體業務的科技公司告上法庭索賠一事。
本篇文章的預習文字（分為原文版和老師標記版，完成其中一份預習作業即可），以及文章對應的音訊都已經分享在【最新外刊精讀團】微信群中。
中午12：30開始，我會在影片號直播間和大家一起精讀學習這篇外刊文章。課後，還會有針對性的複習檢測作業，以幫助同學們消化鞏固文章中的語言知識點。
今天外刊精讀直播課的學習點：
如何把開頭段寫得吸人眼球，引人入勝？如何呈現正反雙方的說辭？
歡迎大家來直播間一起學習進步！
想深度學習這篇文章，以及免費體驗7天【最新外刊精讀團】（3月13-3月19日）學習活動的同學，請加老師微信諮詢體驗。
下面，請各位同學看一下預習任務，看看自己是否都清楚這些加粗部分的單詞或短語在文中的詞意。
Big tech v the news
Artificial intelligence is reaching behind
newspaper paywalls
newspaper paywalls
Publishers long accused tech firms of
profiting from their content. Now they have a point
profiting from their content. Now they have a point
Mar
2nd 2023 |
2nd 2023 |
THERE WASbig
news in Canada last week—but if you were in Canada
itself you may have missed it. On February 22nd it emerged that Google was blocking access to news content, in a five-week trial affecting about 4% of users in the
country. The measure comes as Canada’s Senate considers
a bill that would force big internet companies to pay publishers for displaying links to their stories. Google says it may simply block them instead; Canada’s government says the search engine’s
actions amount tointimidation.
news in Canada last week—but if you were in Canada
itself you may have missed it. On February 22nd it emerged that Google was blocking access to news content, in a five-week trial affecting about 4% of users in the
country. The measure comes as Canada’s Senate considers
a bill that would force big internet companies to pay publishers for displaying links to their stories. Google says it may simply block them instead; Canada’s government says the search engine’s
actions amount tointimidation.
It is the latest episode in a worldwide dispute between new media and old. News organisations, which in the past two decades
have seen most of their advertising revenue disappear online, accuse search
engines and social networks of profiting from content that is not theirs.
Google and Facebook, which have come in for most of the flak, retort that they merely display links and a few lines of text, rather than articles
themselves, and that by doing so they drive traffic to publishers (who in
any case can opt out if they choose). Facebook estimates that it
sends 1.9bn clicks a year to Canadian media, publicity it values at C$230m
($170m).
have seen most of their advertising revenue disappear online, accuse search
engines and social networks of profiting from content that is not theirs.
Google and Facebook, which have come in for most of the flak, retort that they merely display links and a few lines of text, rather than articles
themselves, and that by doing so they drive traffic to publishers (who in
any case can opt out if they choose). Facebook estimates that it
sends 1.9bn clicks a year to Canadian media, publicity it values at C$230m
($170m).
The online platforms’ arguments
have mostly fallen on deaf ears. Cheered on by their domestic
press, governments in countries including Australia, Britain and Spain have
passed or proposed laws aiming to squeeze money out of Silicon Valley
and into local media companies. Australia’s law, passed
in 2021, prodded tech firms to make payments to Australian media
reportedly worth about A$200m ($135m) in the scheme’s first year.
have mostly fallen on deaf ears. Cheered on by their domestic
press, governments in countries including Australia, Britain and Spain have
passed or proposed laws aiming to squeeze money out of Silicon Valley
and into local media companies. Australia’s law, passed
in 2021, prodded tech firms to make payments to Australian media
reportedly worth about A$200m ($135m) in the scheme’s first year.
To ward off similar legislation elsewhere, Google
and Facebook have set up mechanisms for funnelling “support” to media companies. Google’s “News Showcase” will spend about $1bn in 2020-23 on licensing content from
more than 2,000 news organisations in more than 20 countries. Facebook’s News Tab (in which The Economist has
participated) does something similar, but has lately been scaled back.
Unlike Google, Facebook can live without news, which makes up only 3% of what
users see in their feed.
and Facebook have set up mechanisms for funnelling “support” to media companies. Google’s “News Showcase” will spend about $1bn in 2020-23 on licensing content from
more than 2,000 news organisations in more than 20 countries. Facebook’s News Tab (in which The Economist has
participated) does something similar, but has lately been scaled back.
Unlike Google, Facebook can live without news, which makes up only 3% of what
users see in their feed.
The laws have sometimes had the feel of a shakedown of the wealthy foreign tech firms by governments. But developments in the
search business mean that the publishers’ complaints seem increasingly justified. Search engines have been getting
better at displaying information without referring visitors to external
sources. Ask Google the size of Canada’s population and
it simply tells you that it was 38m in 2021 (followed by its usual list of
suggested websites). About a quarter of desktop Google searches now end with no
onward clicks, according to Semrush, an online marketing company.
search business mean that the publishers’ complaints seem increasingly justified. Search engines have been getting
better at displaying information without referring visitors to external
sources. Ask Google the size of Canada’s population and
it simply tells you that it was 38m in 2021 (followed by its usual list of
suggested websites). About a quarter of desktop Google searches now end with no
onward clicks, according to Semrush, an online marketing company.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
promises to improve this capability dramatically. Google’s AI helper,
Bard, is still under wraps. But its rival, incorporated into
Microsoft’s Bing search engine, is already resolvingqueries. Ask the old Bing for a summary of Canada’s last election results and it points to sites including CBC News and the Globe and
Mail. Ask the new Bing and it gives a decent account by itself
(along with footnoted links to sources). AI assistants can even reach behind paywalls. A user trying
to find the New York Times’s recipe for
macaroni and cheese will be stopped by a demand for payment and subscription.
But ask Bing’s AI and
it serves up a paraphrased version of the whole recipe, complete with a
licking-lips emoji.
promises to improve this capability dramatically. Google’s AI helper,
Bard, is still under wraps. But its rival, incorporated into
Microsoft’s Bing search engine, is already resolvingqueries. Ask the old Bing for a summary of Canada’s last election results and it points to sites including CBC News and the Globe and
Mail. Ask the new Bing and it gives a decent account by itself
(along with footnoted links to sources). AI assistants can even reach behind paywalls. A user trying
to find the New York Times’s recipe for
macaroni and cheese will be stopped by a demand for payment and subscription.
But ask Bing’s AI and
it serves up a paraphrased version of the whole recipe, complete with a
licking-lips emoji.
The search companies admit they are still finding their
way with new technology, which is mostly not yet on general release.
That is unlikely to satisfy publishers’ lawyers. The
chief counsel at one large media company argues that AI-search companies should be made to
license the content they regurgitate, just as Spotify has to pay record
labels to play their songs. AI’s use of others’ material is “the copyright question of our times”, he
says. For years the complaints of publishers against platforms have rung somewhat hollow. Now they have a real story on their hands. ■
way with new technology, which is mostly not yet on general release.
That is unlikely to satisfy publishers’ lawyers. The
chief counsel at one large media company argues that AI-search companies should be made to
license the content they regurgitate, just as Spotify has to pay record
labels to play their songs. AI’s use of others’ material is “the copyright question of our times”, he
says. For years the complaints of publishers against platforms have rung somewhat hollow. Now they have a real story on their hands. ■