Ringier Group can increase profits - "AI Board" established
The Ringier Group has decided to make artificial intelligence its top internal topic. A newly created "AI Board" is to find possible applications for Ringier. Four rules have already been formulated that Ringier wants to work with.
Ringier CEO Marc Walder presented the four rules that will apply to dealing with Artificial Intelligence with immediate effect at Ringier's "Speak" event on Tuesday: The first is that Ringier takes full responsibility for any content created with Artificial Intelligence.
Employees are also prohibited - as a second rule - from entering confidential information into an AI application. All employees must also be aware - as a third rule - that the rights to AI content do not belong to Ringier.
AI content is marked
And the fourth and probably most important rule: Ringier will always label content produced with the help of AI as such. So in the future, if texts are written with the help of GPT or other AI applications, or images are generated with Midjourney, the company will always make this transparent.
Applying these rules will be crucial, Walder said. The potential for abuse is growing, he said. "But media must continue to stand for trust and integrity."
Michael Ringier: "Rules are needed"
A newly established working group, called the "AI Board," will also deal with the topic of artificial intelligence internally. Its aim is not only to ensure that the agreed rules are applied, but also to work out possible applications. One of the members of the AI Board is Ringier CEO Marc Walder.
Chairman Michael Ringier supports the newly created rules. Artificial intelligence needs human rules, especially when it comes to journalism. "People have to be able to trust the media," he told employees.
Rejecting AI applications in general is out of the question for Ringier. "The biggest risk is to do nothing at all."
More profit and sales
At the same time as the employee information on artificial intelligence, Ringier also published its business results from 2022 on Tuesday, which went well financially. The Group increased both operating profit and revenue. However, due to a different corporate structure, the reported figures are below those of the previous year.
Ringier made sales of CHF 932.6 million and Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of CHF 104.9 million in 2022.
The reasons for the lower figures: On the one hand, Ringier completely took over the businesses in Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia and the Baltic States, which were previously managed jointly with Axel Springer.
On the other hand, with the launch of the joint venture SMG Swiss Marketplace Group - together with TX Group - the digital marketplaces in Switzerland are now only partially included in Ringier's accounts. Without these changes, revenues would have been 1.01 billion and operating profit 134.4 million.
Digital share increased to 79 percent
The share of digital business continued to rise last year: Ringier already generated 79 percent of its operating profit with digital offerings, primarily with marketplaces and media platforms. In the previous year, it was only 73 percent. (SDA/swi)
