Alternative models for news orgs engaging in the voice ecosystem
Kaleida’s News Assistant Platform is a prototype for a new kind of Q&A service for news orgs to engage in the voice ecosystem. It monitors incoming questions from voice apps and allows news editors to answer those questions.
The web app is available here: https://news-assistant.kaleida.com/
People can also use Google Assistant to ask questions and get responses.
The project demonstrates how news orgs could work more natively with the tools and technologies powering smart speakers. By seeing the questions people are asking editors have better context for using their knowledge to help people understand what’s happening in the world.
The web app shows editors the questions coming in from users in a live updating list. They also see the platform’s automated responses which are based on recent headlines from leading UK news publishers.
Editors can then improve the platform’s responses by composing relevant answers using their expertise and insight.
The astounding growth of smart speakers presents many questions for news orgs. While users are quick to engage with the devices the learning curve for providers is steep and full of uncertainty.
Where is the opportunity? How does news benefit from the voice ecosystem? What do users want? Which technologies will help?
The team at Kaleida believes a Q&A style platform for voice would solve many problems for the whole voice ecosystem, including for news consumers, voice platforms, and the entire news industry.
The technology for such a platform is cheap and easy to work with.
Google’s Dialogflow, Firebase, Cloud functions, and Text-to-speech technologies provide many of the language, data management and communication features needed for any voice platform. Elasticsearch, GraphQL and React provide an efficient and easy-to-use development environment for content management and production tools news orgs would need to facilitate an independent, collective Q&A platform.
Kaleida built the app with support from Google’s Digital News Innovation Fund.
The project also includes a detailed report describing the approach to the app from conception through development to future directions. It includes details of the technology used to build The News Assistant Platform and analysis of the market — the challenges and potential solutions for the wider news ecosystem.
The intent of the app and the report is to speed up the learning curve for news orgs wishing to engage in the voice ecosystem.
Download the report here.
