Like most industries, journalism is being heavily impacted by AI, but do journalists see it as a threat or an opportunity?
The use of AI is already widespread in the media, with journalists using it for quick fact-checks, to transcribe interviews and summarise data. It’s likely that it’s even being used to generate headlines and photo captions.
A recent study by the Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford showed that 56% of journalists use AI on a weekly basis, predominantly for grammar checking, transcription and translation. However, many still see it as a threat to their jobs, with some saying that using AI to produce news is likely to drive an even bigger wedge between local newspapers and their readers.
Loss of trust
A major concern is that AI will replace journalists, who have undergone extensive training to ensure they report fairly and accurately, while adhering to media law. Many will have obtained a journalism degree from a reputable college such as https://schoolofjournalism.co.uk and are horrified that machines may be producing copy that is being passed off as generated by humans.
In fact, one new website used fake journalist profiles to cover what it described as ‘local news’, leading many to question whether there will still be a role for trained reporters in the future.
More time for investigation
Some argue that AI will free up time for journalists, as they will have to spend less time on low-level tasks such as data cleaning. Overall, however, the study showed that only 15% of those surveyed see it as a substantial opportunity.