AI SmartCut, an artificial intelligence-powered project that helps Mediacorp win more eyeballs for the work of its television journalists has won a silver award for Best Use of AI in the Newsroom at the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) Digital Media Awards Asia 2024.

The AI SmartCut solution uses voice recognition and natural language processing to automatically generate news clips from CNA’s prime-time news bulletins. This means news video packages, live reports and interviews can be uploaded to CNA’s website, TV app and YouTube channel within minutes of going on air.

It also reduces the manpower required to process these catch-up videos, freeing up journalists to focus on value-added reporting.

Mediacorp also won a silver award for Best in Audience Engagement for My Feed, a feature that allows users to personalise their experience on the CNA website and app by following topics, programmes and podcasts that suit their interests. 

After a simplified onboarding process was rolled out, along with a prominent module on the home page inviting people to personalise their experience, CNA saw a jump in users signing up and signing in on the website and app. There was a 250% increase in the average number of topics followed by a user as well.

Mediacorp Editor-in-Chief Walter Fernandez said: “The wins demonstrate Mediacorp’s strong track record of constantly innovating to better serve our audience. Our use of AI to reinvent our approach to television news and to quickly generate bulletin highlights for swift distribution across various platforms is one of our many initiatives to respond to evolving audience consumption patterns and needs.”

He added: “For instance, CNA also recently unveiled FAST, a new feature offering summaries of our top stories for the time-pressed reader. Users who want a quick update on the news can easily swipe through bullet point summaries that are produced with the help of AI, but which are rigorously checked by journalists and editors before publication. We will continue to explore the strategic use of AI to improve our workflows; create new products for our audiences and capabilities for the newsroom; as well as to enhance user experience on our platforms.”

Mediacorp’s Brand Studio won a silver for Best Native Advertising with Behind the Mask, a multimedia feature that looks back at Singapore’s COVID-19 healthcare journey, and its high and low points. The project was done in partnership with Singapore’s Ministry of Health.