X (ex-Twitter) launches AI-generated news summaries for premium users

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has launched a new feature called "X Stories". Powered by the Grok AI engine, X Stories provides summaries of trending conversations on the platform.

These summaries offer users a quick way to catch up on the main topics of discussion without having to sift through individual posts or click through to external websites.

However, there are some potential drawbacks to this approach. X Stories relies exclusively on X posts for its summaries, which can be inaccurate or misleading due to sarcasm, humor, or misinterpretation by the AI.

Additionally, X's focus on in-stream content consumption could reduce the value of the platform for news publishers. By providing detailed summaries, X Stories may lessen the need for users to visit news publisher websites directly. This could lead to decreased traffic and engagement for news outlets, potentially discouraging them from posting on X altogether.

It's important to note that a significant portion of X users (80%) do not actively post or engage on the platform. They rely on the remaining 20% of users to generate content and discussions. If news publishers leave the platform, these passive users may struggle to find the same level of curated news content elsewhere.

While AI-generated story summaries are an innovative concept, their practical effectiveness remains to be seen. X is currently offering X Stories to all premium subscribers.