The death of the author, the rise of the robo-journalist: Authorship, bylines, and full disclosure in automated journalism

This chapter provides a multidisciplinary theoretical integration that is required in policy research. It offers a new comprehensive and consistent policy - an initial framework for understanding and treating algorithmic authorship in ways that satisfy public interest. The chapter provides the crucial need for consistent and comprehensive byline and full disclosure policies, given the abundant and substantial discrepancies between how current users of the technology approach algorithmic authorship and their actual attribution policies and between journalists’ empirical findings and the scholarly literature. The rise in recent of “automated journalism” or “robot journalism” is based on a new and exceptional use of algorithms, artificial intelligence software platforms, and natural language generation techniques. Bylines reflect the hominid and erratic nature of human journalistic content, which is already suffering from diminished credibility. Automated news has potential implications for both journalists and readers, highlighting the importance of transparency in both following facets.