X Launches Stories: Summarizes News powered by Grok AI

Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) is on a roll as well when it comes to AI with his Grok model. Grok 1.5 was made open-source recently, but now we have its more practical applications, starting with Stories on X!

Highlights:

• X has launched Stories features to summarise the latest news, using its Grok AI.
• The new summarization is powered by their AI chatbot named Grok.
• Comes with a few limitations that X has willingly admitted and provided solutions as well.

Stories on X using Grok

X (previously known as Twitter) now supports a new feature called stories which shows the trending news or topics It is using the Grok AI to leverage the news summarization on X.

Note that only X premium users have access to this function. It appears that the functionality is meant to improve how users engage with trending topics that are popular. It gives users a summary of the most recent X news in an effort to keep them informed and interested

These synopses will be conveniently located in the ‘Explore’ section under the ‘For You’ heading. Along with other recommended items, the For You tab features the news and articles that are trending on X’s platform and are well-liked in your network.

When X users want to keep up with what’s being said on the platform without having to spend a lot of time reading through their timeline, this feature will definitely help them.

These summaries will automatically integrate insights from debates and conversations happening across the site, providing a new angle on current topics, in contrast to previous methods that might just display text from the original articles. So instead of reading full articles, you will get to see content and headlines that are actually relevant.

How to Access Stories on X?

You need a premium subscription on X, to access the stories feature. Here are the steps you have to follow to access stories on X:

• Login to the X app with your account
• Navigate to the ‘Explore’ section.
• You will see the ‘Stories’ section under the “For You” tab powered by Grok AI.

A New Approach towards News Summarization?

Although the concept of trend summaries is not new, the way the summaries are being produced is new. 2020 saw X under its previous leadership of Jack Dorsey, start adding headlines and descriptions to its trends—but not with the aid of an AI bot.

Grok AI is here to change the scene of news summarization forever. The top stories on the For You page are all summed up in what are known as Grok’s Stories, the summaries.

Furthermore, in the past few months, X has added a lot of new features, like Community Notes in India. This tool enables users to verify the accuracy of information circulating on the site before accepting it as true.

This is what users need. Rather than just having news headlines of hot trending topics, they need a way to verify the source of the news and information, and X is looking to do just that with its Grok AI chatbot.

Are There Any Limitations?

X had admitted that its platform is not completely flawless when it comes to the “Stories” feature. In the latest Grok-powered summary of the AI burnout story, you can see that Grok concludes the summary by saying “Grok can make mistakes, verify its outputs.”

Thus, users will see this cautionary warning in every summary they witness from Grok on X. Users are encouraged to evaluate the offered material cautiously using this cautionary remark.

How will this impact News readers?

Based on an email exchange with the owner of X, tech journalist Alex Kantrowitz outlined Elon Musk’s future plans for AI-powered news on X in a post that was posted on the platform.

“Conversation on X will make up the core of Grok’s summaries — or, really almost all of it. Musk said Grok will not look directly at article text, and will instead rely solely on social posts. “It’s summarizing what people say on X,” he said. “Definitely needs to do a better job of displaying relevant posts, including, for example, the TIME post that links to the article.”

Alex Kantrowitz

According to Kantrowitz, the main focus of Grok’s summaries will be discussions on X.

Put another way, even if that’s what people are talking about on the platform, Grok won’t check out the article text. That might be an issue for accurately portraying the news being spread, since people may be discussing their thoughts or feelings about X rather than the news itself.

Although Kantrowitz labels the action as “controversial,” he acknowledges that there is potential. After their attention is peaked, viewers might be interested in delving “deeper into the source material,” according to Kantrowitz.

However, it’s also likely that a number of news websites may close as a result of page views declining as a result of AI summaries, which would ultimately reduce the number of sources available for AI bots like Grok to summarise.

Due to this one-on-one risk factor at both sites, several journalism startups have struck deals with AI companies. One such recent deal is OpenAI’s partnership with FT.

If you look at the positive side, for sure users will save a lot of time and hassle and get access to the latest headlines in trending topics. They can just read relevant content that actually matters, instead of indulging in articles that take up 5-10 minutes of your time.

Conclusion

For now, X seems well off to go with these Stories leveraged by Grok, but who knows what will happen in the long run? Maybe we will see X striking a deal with a journalism startup or maybe not? Overall, Not only is X changing the way news is summarized but it is also making sure that users verify the news sources before jumping to conclusions.