The mobile phone will become our “eyes and ears,” on the world thanks to major enhancements with image- and voice-recognition software.
Intensifying competition between Google, Amazon, Apple, Samsung, Facebook, and Snapchat will lead to significant progress in turning the camera of a mobile phone into an “eye” that can identify images and instantly return information about an object or person. Listening devices — the “ears” — will increasingly replace tasks ranging from typing into a search field and using an app. Furthermore, image- and voice-recognition software will plug into vast databases in the cloud, unlocking the power of artificial intelligence — the “brain” — so that computers that can sift through data and extract relevant information in fractions of a second.
These technologies are becoming the new battlefield for tech giants, opening up an array of consumer experiences and business opportunities.
The lines are already being drawn: Apple’s purchase of Shazam is a prelude to connecting Siri voice-recognition to the HomePod music service, which launches in 2018. Apple is hoping that voice-activated music may help close the gap between Apple Music, with 30 million paying customers, and the more popular Spotify, which has 60 million.
Amazon currently leads the way in voice-activated systems with its Alexa software and Echo devices. Google is hot on the heels with Google Home voice-command software and Google Lens image recognition, which will launch in 2018.
The new software and hardware open up a bewildering array of opportunity for media, removing friction points to information discovery. At Dow Jones, we are busy experimenting. This includes using Google and Blippar image-recognition software to help readers save and share stories (both in print and digital) and surface related stories. We are working with Apple and Google to harness the power of augmented reality: Using the camera of a phone, we are experimenting with a Minority Report-style view of the daily drama of the U.S. stock market using live markets data. We are experimenting with Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home on voice-activated services, including top stories from the Journal.
Early experiments may yield mixed results — it’s early days! But the media industry must not repeat the mistakes of the past, and allow itself to be a laggard with powerful new technologies. “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten,” as Bill Gates reminds us. “Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.”
Edward Roussel is chief innovation officer of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones.
Betsy O'Donovan and Melody Kramer Skepticism and narcissism
Amy King Let’s amplify visual voice
Eric Ulken The year local publishers get smart(er) about change
Jim Moroney Newspapers have to be good enough for readers to pay for
Richard J. Tofel The platforms’ power demands more reporters’ attention
Kim Fox Audience teams diversify their approach
Trushar Barot The Jio-fication of India
Mandy Velez texting is lit rn, fam
Helen Havlak Keywords, not publishers, power the world’s biggest feeds
Edward Roussel Eyes, ears, and brains
Craig Newmark Working together toward sustainable solutions
Julia Beizer A longer view on the pivot
Heather Bryant Building the ecosystems for collaboration
Jassim Ahmad Thriving on change
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Seeking trust in fragmented spaces
Brian Lam Sketchy ethics around product reviews
Ray Soto VR reaches the next level
Aron Pilhofer We can’t leave the business to the business side any more
Zizi Papacharissi Women come back
Doris Truong Computer vision vs. the Internet vigilantes
Emma Carew Grovum Newsroom culture becomes a priority
Juliette De Maeyer A responsible press criticism
Sally Lehrman Trust comes first
Will Sommer The year local media gets conservative
Marie Gilot No assholes allowed
Rubina Madan Fillion Unlocking the potential of AI
Corey Ford The empire strikes back
David Skok Finding an information-life balance
Matt DeRienzo A recession, then a collapse
Niketa Patel Live journalism comes of age
Jennifer Coogan The future is female
Carrie Brown-Smith Transparency finally takes off
Alan Soon The rise of start of psychographic, micro-targeted media
Damon Krukowski Reviving the alt-weekly soul
Nikki Usher The year of The Washington Post
Alastair Coote The year of self-improvement
Carlos Martínez de la Serna The new journalism commons
Federica Cherubini The rise of bridge roles in news organizations
P. Kim Bui The reckoning is only beginning
Mi-Ai Parrish Blockchain and trust
Caitria O'Neill The new court of public opinion
S. Mitra Kalita The arc of news and audience
Claire Wardle Disinformation gets worse
Pia Frey Address users as individuals
Imaeyen Ibanga Longform video leads the way
Frédéric Filloux External forces
Cory Haik Suffering from realness, pivoting to impact
Sara M. Watson Feeds will open up to new user-determined filters
José Zamora Revenue-first journalism
Dheerja Kaur Fun with subscription products
Kathleen McElroy Building a news video experience native to mobile
Molly de Aguiar Good journalism won’t be enough
Bill Keller A growing turn to philanthropy
Tanya Cordrey Finally, the seeds of radical reinvention
Taylor Lorenz Social and media will split
Julia B. Chan Looking for loyalty in all the right places
Raney Aronson-Rath Transparency is the antidote to fake news
Laura E. Davis Writing answers before you know the question
Eric Nuzum Beyond the narrative arc
Caitlin Thompson Podcasting models mature and diversify
Nicholas Diakopoulos Fortifying social media from automated inauthenticity
Manoush Zomorodi Self-help as a publishing strategy
Matt Thompson Here come the attention managers
Nicholas Quah Stop talking trash about young people
Jarrod Dicker Honesty in advertising
Andrew Losowsky The year of resilience
Tim Carmody Watch out for Spotify
Corey Johnson The pro-fact resistance
Christopher Meighan Passive partnership is in the rearview
Rick Berke Value is the watchword
Jennifer Brandel and Mónica Guzmán The editorial meeting of the future
Ruth Palmer Risks will grow for news subjects — especially minorities
Mariana Moura Santos Think local, act global
Tamar Charney We get serious about algorithms
Rodney Benson Better, less read, and less trusted
Sam Ford The year of investing in processes
Jamie Mottram From pageviews to t-shirts
Felix Salmon Covering bitcoin while owning bitcoin
Francesco Marconi The year of machine-to-machine journalism
Andrew Haeg The year journalists become relationship builders
Mario García Storytelling finally adapts to mobile
Joanne Lipman Journalists inventing revenue streams
Cristina Wilson The year of the Instagram Story
Ståle Grut Reclaiming audience interaction from social networks
Justin Kosslyn The year journalists become digital security experts
Debra Adams Simmons And a woman shall lead them
Marcela Donini and Thiago Herdy Collaboration is the way forward for Brazilian journalism
Rodney Gibbs Tech workers turn to journalism
Nushin Rashidian Publishers seek ad dollar alternatives
C.W. Anderson The social media apocalypse
Monika Bauerlein The firehose of falsehood
Kyle Ellis Let’s build our way out of this
Amie Ferris-Rotman More female reporters abroad (please)
L. Gordon Crovitz Serving readers over advertisers
Hannah Cassius The year of the echo-chamber escapists
Michelle Ferrier The year of the great reckoning
Matt Boggie The intellectual equivalent of the Dead Sea
Tanzina Vega It’s time for media companies to #PassTheMic
Dan Shanoff You down with OTT? (Yeah, DTC)
Mary Walter-Brown Show a little vulnerability
Jesse Holcomb Information disorder, coming to a congressional district near you
Miguel Castro The arrival of the impact producer
Millie Tran and Stine Bauer Dahlberg (Hint: It’s about your brand)
Vivian Schiller Pivot to tomorrow
Michelle Garcia Navigating journalistic transparency
Amy Webb Listen to weak signals
Andrew Ramsammy The year ownership mattered
Joyce Barnathan It will be harder to bury the news
Pablo Boczkowski The rise of skeptical reading
Mary Meehan Real lives are at stake in rural areas
Juleyka Lantigua-Williams Women of color will reclaim and monetize our time
Elizabeth Jensen Show your work
Cindy Royal Your journalism curriculum is obsolete
Tracie Powell The muting of underserved voices
Monique Judge Letting black women tell their own stories
Susie Banikarim R.I.P. Pivot to Video (2017–2017)
Basile Simon We need better career paths for news nerds
Borja Echevarría TV goes digital, digital goes TV
Kinsey Wilson Facebook and Google: Help out or pay up
Sam Sanders Shine the light on ourselves
Matt Carlson Attacks on the press will get worse
Jared Newman Venture funding and digital news don’t mix
Sydette Harry Listen to your corner and watch for the hook
Renée Kaplan The year of quiet adjustments (shhh)
Jennifer Choi Standing up for us and for each other
Jacqui Cheng Retailers move into content
Kawandeep Virdee Zines had it right all along
Yvonne Leow The rise of video messaging
Mira Lowe The year of the local watchdog
Lanre Akinola Making noise is not a strategy
Ernst-Jan Pfauth Publishing less to give readers more
Umbreen Bhatti The trust problem isn’t new
Rachel Schallom Better design helps differentiate opinion and news
Adam Thomas Sharing is caring: The year of the mentor
Vanessa K. DeLuca Women’s voices take center stage
Hossein Derakhshan Television has won
Mike Caulfield Refactoring media literacy for the networked age
Mariano Blejman News games rule
Jessica Parker Gilbert Design connects storytelling and strategy
Errin Haines At the ballot, it’s time to count black women
Jim Brady With the people, not just of the people
Rachel Davis Mersey AI, with real smarts
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen The Snapchat scenario and the risk of more closed platforms
Alfred Hermida Going beyond mobile-first
Luke O'Neil The end is already here
Lam Thuy Vo Breaking free from the tyranny of the loudest
Michael Kuntz The only pivot that might work
Daniel Trielli The rich get richer, the poor scramble
Feli Sánchez The year for guerrilla user research
Steve Grove The midterms are an opportunity
An Xiao Mina Memes and visuals come to the fore
Joanne McNeil Gatekeeping the gatekeepers
Evie Nagy Pivot to mobile video frustration
Kristen Muller The year of the voter
Alice Antheaume Are you fluent in AI?
Lucas Graves From algorithms to institutions
Sarah Marshall Loyalty as the key performance indicator
Charo Henríquez Training is an investment, not an expense
Alexios Mantzarlis Moving fake news research out of the lab
Dannagal G. Young Stop covering politics as a game