F uture historians will look back on this time as theturning point for media, information and technol- ogy. Journalists found themselves in the strangeposition of reminding the public the differencebetween facts, “alternative facts,” and outrightlies—and then having to defend their centuries-oldcommitment to data-driven and research-based reporting. Newtools—from artifcial narrow intelligence, to voice interfaces, toadversarial images—promised to both supercharge newsroomsand decimate revenue. The usual forms of distribution, for whichthere were established business models and proft centers, werebeing disrupted by machine learning and gatekeeper algo- rithms. Due in large part to technology, the world seemed upside down.Many journalists were left disoriented, unsure of the path ahead.Those not feeling extremely uneasy about the future of newshaven’t been paying attention. There is still time to chart a different course. Buckminster Fulleronce said that “you never change things by fghting the existingreality.” After all, reality is always in fux—the future is continu- ally on its heels. “To change something, build a new model thatmakes the existing model obsolete,” Fuller said. If news organi- zations are to survive in the future, they don’t need to make theexisting tenants of quality journalism obsolete. However theydo need to anticipate technological disruption, and prepare forsecond, third, fourth, and ffth-order impacts of emerging tech- nology on the industry. They must develop new models for re- porting and disseminating the news in order to ensure the long- term sustainability of operations.Those in the news ecosystem should factor the trends in this re- port into their strategic thinking for the coming year, and adjusttheir planning, operations and business models accordingly. The Future Today Institute has published an annual tech trendsreport for the past ten years, always focusing on mid- to late- stage emerging technologies that are on a growth trajectory.Given all the disruption in news, the timing seemed ripe for atech trends report specifcally for the future of journalism. Thisis the Institute’s frst industry-specifc report, and it follows thesame approach as our popular annual trends report, which hasnow received more than 6 million cumulative views. It is beingreleased along with our new Global Survey On Journalism’s Fu- tures, which reveals how those working within journalism thinkabout the future.While the trends in this report should help guide your thinkingin 2018, remember that the future never shows up, fully pro- duced. It is yours to write. Future historians will look back on this timeas the turning point for media, informationand technology. Amy Webb Founder Future Today Institute 2017-2018 Future Today Institute0204 Executive Summary05Methodology09Making Use Of Trends In Your Organization 13Artifcial Intelligence:A Primer For Journalists 17Real-Time Machine Learning17Machine Reading Comprehension17Natural Language Understanding17Natural LanguageGeneration 18Generative Algorithms For Voice, Sound and Video 18Image CompletionPredictive Machine Vision 19 Algorithm Marketplaces19 Consolidation in AI20 Uncovering Hidden Biasin AI21 Computational Journalism22 I-Teams For Algorithms and Data 23 Crowdlearning24 Adversarial MachineLearning25 Computational Photography 26 Bots27 The Botness Scale28 Voice Interfaces29 Ambient Interfaces30 Deep Linking31 Productivity Bots32 Adaptive Learning33 Nanodegrees34 Proximity News35 Personality Recognition and Analytics 36 Attention37 Digital Frailty39 Radical TransparencyLimited-Edition40 News Products 41 One-To-Few Publishing42 Notifcation Layer43 Journalism as a Service44 Transparency in Metrics45 Real-Time Fact Checking46 Offine Is The New Online47 Audio Search Engines48 CubeSats50 Connected TVs51 WebRTC51 Streaming Social Video52 New Video and AudioStory Formats 53 Splinternets54 Media Consolidation 56 Blocking the Ad Blockers 57 Natural LanguageGeneration for ReadingLevels 58 Leaking 59 The First Amendment ina Digital Age 60 Personal Networks 61 Holograms 61 Virtual Reality 62 360-degree Video 62 Augmented Reality 63 Mini-Glossary of MixedReality Terms For Journalists 65 Differential Privacy 65 Trolls 66 Authenticity 66 Data Retention Policies 66 Backdoors 67 Prize Hacks 67 Weaponizing Wikileaks 67 Glitches 68 Ownership 69 Hacker Terms and Lingo Every Journalist ShouldKnow 75 Organizational Doxing 76 Blockchain For Journalism 77 Sense And Avoid Technology 77 Drone Swarms 77 Drone Lanes 77 Clandestine, DisappearingDrones 78 Autonomous UnderwaterVehicles 78 Microdrones 78 Drone Delivery 79 Head Mounted Displays 79 Smartwatches 80 Earables 80 Thinkables 81 Internet of X 82 5G 83 About The Future TodayInstitute 84 About The Author 84 Special Thanks 85 Disclaimer 87 Company Index91 Contact Information 2017-2018 Future Today Institute03 Table of Contents2017-2018 Future Today Institute Executive SummaryThe Future Today Institute’s 2018 Tech Trends For Journalism Report is our frst industry-specifcanalysis of emerging technology trends. It follows the same approach as our popular annual trendsreport, now in its 10th year of publication with more than 6 million cumulative views. In 2018, a critical mass of emerging technologies will converge,fnding advanced uses beyond initial testing and applied re- search. That’s a signal worth paying attention to. News organi- zations should devote attention to emerging trends in block- chain, voice interfaces, the decentralization of content, mixedreality, new types of search, and hardware (such as CubeSatsand smart cameras).Journalists need to understand what artifcial intelligence is,what it is not, and what it means for the future of news. AI re- search has advanced enough that it is now a core componentof our work at FTI. You will see the AI ecosystem representedin many of the trends in this report, and it is vitally importantthat all decision-makers within news organizations familiarizethemselves with the current and emerging AI landscapes. Wehave included an AI Primer For Journalists in our Trend Reportthis year to aid in that effort.Decentralization emerged as a key theme for 2018. Among thecompanies and organizations FTI covers, we discovered a newemphasis on restricted peer-to-peer networks that detect ha- rassment, share resources and connect reporters with sources.There is also a push by some democratic governments aroundthe world to divide internet access and to restrict certain con- tent, effectively creating dozens of “splinternets.”Consolidation is also a key theme for 2018. News brands,broadcast spectrum, and artifcial intelligence startups willcontinue to be merged with and acquired by relatively fewcorporations. Pending legislation and policy in the U.S., E.U.and parts of Asia could further concentrate the power amonga small cadre of information and technology organizations inthe year ahead.To understand the future of news, you must pay attention tothe future of many industries and research areas in the com- ing year. When journalists think about the future, they shouldbroaden the usual scope to consider developments from myr- iad other felds also participating in the knowledge economy.Technology begets technology. We are witnessing an explo- sion in slow motion. 04 。。。。。。