TL;DR:
- 73% of news organizations see generative AI (genAI) like ChatGPT and Google Bard as a promising avenue for journalism, per a global report by the JournalismAI initiative.
- The report surveyed 100+ news organizations in 46 countries between April and July 2023.
- About 85% of respondents, including journalists and technologists, experimented with genAI for various tasks, enhancing efficiency.
- GenAI’s appeal lies in accessibility, minimal technical requirements, and contextual understanding.
- Despite its potential, there’s consensus that human oversight is vital to mitigate biases and inaccuracies.
- Over 60% of respondents expressed concerns about the ethical implications of AI in journalism.
- Challenges are more pronounced in newsrooms in the Global South, facing language, infrastructural, and political obstacles.
- A shift towards increased AI utilization, with 80% of respondents anticipating growth, presents an opportunity for more “human” journalism with AI support.
Main AI News:
In a rapidly evolving media landscape, the intersection of journalism and artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a pivotal point of transformation. A recent global report, “Generating Change: A global survey of what news organizations are doing with AI,” authored by the JournalismAI initiative at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), reveals that nearly three-quarters of news organizations, amounting to an impressive 73 percent, firmly believe that generative AI (genAI) holds the key to fresh opportunities in journalism. GenAI, exemplified by innovative technologies like ChatGPT and Google Bard, is charting a new course in the realm of news dissemination.
This groundbreaking report, conducted between April and July 2023, meticulously surveyed over 100 news organizations spanning 46 countries, encompassing the insights of journalists, technologists, and managerial stalwarts within these newsrooms. Remarkably, the report underscores that approximately 85 percent of these respondents have, at the very least, embarked on exploratory journeys with genAI. Their endeavors have spanned an array of tasks, including writing code, generating images, and crafting concise summaries.
The allure of AI in journalism lies in its potential to liberate creative energies by streamlining labor-intensive functions, such as interview transcription and fact-checking. An AI strategy analyst hailing from France, who participated in the survey, noted, “GenAI can change the way we interact with information, allowing us to grasp massive amounts of data and level the playing field between high and low data skills.“
What sets genAI apart is its accessibility, minimal technical prerequisites, and a unique knack for grasping “context.” These attributes set it apart from other AI technologies that typically demand specialized expertise, particularly in programming. However, even in the midst of these opportunities, respondents exhibit a cognizant caution. They acknowledge the necessity of human oversight to counterbalance potential pitfalls such as bias and inaccuracies. A discerning editor at a Spanish fact-checking platform succinctly emphasized, “No matter how advanced AI becomes, human criteria will always be essential in the whole fact-checking process.”
More than 60 percent of respondents voiced concerns regarding the ethical dimensions of AI in journalism. These concerns encompass the preservation of journalistic values such as accuracy, fairness, and transparency. As newsrooms worldwide grapple with the intricacies of AI integration, the challenges loom larger for news organizations in the Global South. Survey participants highlighted the linguistic, infrastructural, and political impediments they face. They underscored how the socio-economic benefits of AI tend to cluster in the Global North, endowed with superior infrastructure and easier access to resources. Conversely, many Global South nations confront the lingering repercussions of post-independence colonialism, navigating through social, cultural, and economic complexities.
A respondent from the Philippines astutely observed, “AI technologies developed have been predominantly available in English, but not in many Asian languages…We have to catch up doubly to create AI systems and AI systems that work with our local languages.”
With an astounding 80 percent of respondents foreseeing a surge in AI utilization within their newsrooms, the report’s authors contend that this juncture represents a pivotal opportunity for “good” journalists to delve deeper into ‘human’ work with the steadfast support of AI.
Commenting on these findings, co-author and Director of JournalismAI, Professor Charlie Beckett, remarked, “Journalism around the world is going through another period of exciting and scary technological change. Our survey shows that the new generative AI tools are a potential threat to the integrity of information and the news media. But they also offer an incredible opportunity to make journalism more efficient, effective, and trustworthy. This survey is a fascinating snapshot of the news media at a critical juncture in its history.”
Mira Yaseen, co-author and lead researcher, further added, “It was truly enriching to engage with more than 100 media organizations that vary in size, region, language, mission, and business model, and listen to their experiences with and concerns about AI integration in journalism. We’ve known that it’s a double-edged sword, like almost everything, but what came through more clearly in our report this year was the global AI disparity. Currently, the economic and social benefits of AI are concentrated in the Global North and its harms disproportionately affect the Global South (e.g., algorithmic bias), exacerbating global inequality. If we are serious about benefiting from AI in an equitable manner, it is imperative that we adopt a power-conscious framing of global AI development and adoption, which is often absent in discussions about AI. Our report attempts to do this in Chapter six by paying special attention to the challenges faced by the global majority.“
Conclusion:
The survey underscores that generative AI has become a focal point in the evolution of journalism, with a significant majority of news organizations recognizing its potential. However, ethical concerns and disparities in AI accessibility pose challenges. As the industry continues to embrace AI, it is imperative for news organizations to balance efficiency gains with ethical considerations and for global stakeholders to address the accessibility divide, ensuring a more equitable AI-powered journalism landscape.
