Journalism and AI | LSE

Summary

The Journalism AI project, supported by the Google News Initiative, reveals a surge in AI adoption across 100 global newsrooms. AI is utilized for content creation, audience engagement, and streamlining newsroom processes. Despite recognizing AI's potential, newsrooms face challenges like training, debiasing, and resource allocation. The Global South faces additional hurdles, including language barriers and infrastructure issues.

Takeaways

• 🌐 Journalists worldwide are increasingly integrating AI into their work, with more than 100 newsrooms across 46 countries participating in a global survey.
• 📈 There has been an explosive growth in the use of AI in journalism since the advent of generative AI tools like Chat GPT and Google Bard.
• 🛠️ AI is being utilized in newsrooms for various tasks including content generation, social media engagement, process streamlining, coding, image generation, summarization, and content presentation enhancement.
• 🎭 In one instance, AI was used to create a virtual presenter, from appearance to speech and voice type, all under human supervision.
• 🔮 Over 80% of survey respondents anticipate an increased application of AI in their newsrooms, recognizing new opportunities presented by AI that previous technologies did not offer.
• 🤔 The newsrooms are divided on whether AI also brings unique challenges alongside its benefits.
• 🏗️ Key challenges identified for incorporating AI include assessing training needs, developing debiasing techniques, and securing financial and human resources.
• 📊 The predicted challenges vary based on the size, mission, location, and resource access of the newsrooms.
• 🌍 POLIS has a particular focus on understanding AI usage beyond the Global North, highlighting more pronounced challenges for newsrooms in Global South countries.
• 🗣️ Non-English speaking newsrooms face additional hurdles such as language limitations of AI tools, higher algorithmic bias, and less developed internet infrastructure.
• 📚 For an in-depth understanding, the full report on AI in journalism is available for download on the project's website, journalisai.info.

Q & A

What is the Journalism AI project and who supports it?

The Journalism AI project is an initiative by Polis, the journalism think tank at the London School of Economics (LSE). It is supported by the Google News Initiative and aims to understand the future of AI and its impact on the news industry.

How many newsrooms and countries were involved in the survey conducted by Journalism AI?

The survey involved more than 100 newsrooms spanning 46 countries across six continents.

What is the trend in the use of AI in journalism since the release of generative AI tools?

There has been an explosive growth in the use of AI across many industries, including journalism. Newsrooms globally are experimenting with and starting to use AI tools to support their work.

In what ways are newsrooms using AI to support their work?

Newsrooms are using AI to generate content, engage audiences on social media, streamline processes, write code, generate images, author summaries, and improve content presentation.

Can you provide an example of how AI is used in a newsroom for content creation?

In one newsroom, generative AI was used to create a presenter and their program, including their appearance, speech, and voice type, all under human supervision.

What percentage of respondents foresee increased application of AI in their newsrooms in the near future?

More than 80% of respondents predict a significant increase in the application of artificial intelligence in their newsrooms.

What challenges do newsrooms anticipate when using AI-powered technologies?

Challenges include assessing AI training needs for each department, developing debiasing techniques, and acquiring the necessary financial and human resources to incorporate AI technologies.

How do the challenges faced by newsrooms in incorporating AI differ based on their size, mission, location, and resources?

The challenges predicted depend on various factors such as the size of the newsroom, its mission, location, and access to resources, with newsrooms in the Global South facing more pronounced challenges.

What specific challenges do newsrooms in Global South countries face when incorporating AI?

Newsrooms in Global South countries face challenges such as language limitations of AI tools, higher algorithmic bias, and less developed internet infrastructure in some areas.

How can interested individuals learn more about the use of AI in journalism beyond the Global North?

Individuals can download the full report on the website journalisai.info to gain more insights into how AI-powered technologies are being used in newsrooms beyond the Global North.

What is the website where the full report on AI in journalism can be found?

The full report can be found at journalisai.info.