The Impact of AI on Journalism – How AI is Transforming the News Industry
Updated: Jul 5
What is the one thing common to Bloomberg and Washington Post? Aside from the fact that they are media outlets, there is one more interesting aspect that ties them together.
Image from Adobe Stock
It is the fact that they use AI to publish news articles.
Artificial Intelligence has been influencing multiple industries, and the news industry is no different. The introduction of artificial intelligence in the field of journalism is transforming the industry and how journalists work. For instance, machine learning journalism is enabling human reporters to churn out long-form articles with in-depth analyses and investigations.
Another benefit of AI journalism is that it can improve workflows and processes. With the help of AI press, new agencies can streamline their process of collecting information, reaching out to authentic sources, and backend operations like tackling advertisers. Jump into this article to learn more about the role of artificial intelligence in journalism.
AI Tools & Technologies Used in the Newsroom
Image from Adobe Stock
AI has introduced various digital journalism tools that are improving the efficiency of newsrooms. The different types of AI tools relevant to the news industry are as follows:
⦁ Automatic Speech Recognition Tools: The introduction of automatic speech recognition AI newsroom tools enables media houses to caption videos. Tools like IBM Watson are particularly useful for captioning live broadcasts in real-time.
⦁ Automated Writing Tool: Several media houses are using content automation software to generate blogs, articles, and news posts. The Associated Press (AP) has been one of the early adopters of robots to publish quarterly earnings reports. These tools, like ChatGPT and Jasper.ai, can produce simple articles, while journalists use their time to produce more in-depth content.
⦁ Filtering Fake News: Apart from serving as an automated writing tool, AI can also help fact-check stories. For instance, Google’s Search Algorithm was updated to prevent the spread of fake news. The University of Michigan also introduced an AI tool that can detect fake stories with accuracy.
The Benefits of Using AI for Journalists & Press
Image from Canva
The different benefits of AI for journalists and the press are as follows:
⦁ Automated Reporting: An automated reporting tool can help shape the future of journalism. It involves using robust technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data visualization for reporting, analyzing, and creating news. Augmented reporting enables AI programs to assess large documents and identify the latest breaking news events across the globe.
⦁ Automated Writing: For several years, the media was reliant on experienced journalists to compose daily news articles. The media industry is still dependent on experienced writers for the generation of news content. But AI has enabled automated content creation for simple and formulaic topics like sports game scores and stock market results. Meanwhile, journalists can focus on the creation of more in-depth articles demanding a higher amount of concentration and expertise.
⦁ Detect and Minimize Bias: The introduction of AI-powered news stories has helped reduce bias in the media industry. AI is extremely useful for tracking down biases during data interpretation. AI and machine learning algorithms can identify and prevent biases in the world of journalism.
⦁ Identifying Journalistic Trends: AI in journalism can compile and organize large datasets with ease. AI can codify data instantly, compared to the tedious and cumbersome method of manual data categorization. Journalists all over the globe are using artificial intelligence to recognize the necessary changes in their content.
Flagging Misinformation: Artificial Intelligence is useful for thoroughly investigating a large database to look for false information. Bay Area’s The Factu al Chrome app is one instance of the Chrome extension that rates the credibility of 1000+ articles daily.
AI’s Potential to Disrupt the Traditional Media Model
The AI media model disruption ensures that the audience has access to trusted sources of information. But the data-driven journalism model transformation goes beyond providing the audience with authentic sources of information. Data journalists are always concerned about offering diverse sources of information to audiences in a way that provides them with real insights about complex issues.
Data journalism is not just about recycling stories that the audience has read or heard somewhere else. Instead, it delivers a distinct, understandable, and personalized perspective to customers.
The Homicide database under the Los Angeles Times is a massive example of that. The editors of this newspaper collect information about local crimes before writing articles. At the Los Angeles Times, data visualization is at the core and not just an afterthought.
Image from Canva
Conclusion: How Will AI Affect the Future of Journalism?
AI has a bright future in the field of journalism. But news agencies need to focus more on the ethical implications of artificial intelligence in the media. Resources, education, and engagement are the major ethical implications of media houses looking forward to incorporating AI into their operations. But all newsrooms agree that AI cannot currently replace the nuanced work of any journalist.
I’m Ehren Muhammad,
I devote my professional life to helping creative entrepreneurs and small business owners reach their goals. So stay in touch by dropping a comment, let’s connect on Instagram and Twitter!