Addressing the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Journalism: the perception of experts, journalists and academics

Over the last decade, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become gradually more prevalent in mass media and news agency newsrooms. This growing tendency has prompted intense debate about the negative impact on journalism, particularly on quality standards and ethical principles. Taking an explorative a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Noain Sánchez, Amaya
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
Repositorio:BURJC-Digital. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
OAI Identifier:oai:burjcdigital.urjc.es:10115/28674
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10115/28674
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:journalism
artificial intelligence
automated journalism
algorithm journalism
robot journalism
computational journalism
augmented journalism
Descripción
Sumario:Over the last decade, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become gradually more prevalent in mass media and news agency newsrooms. This growing tendency has prompted intense debate about the negative impact on journalism, particularly on quality standards and ethical principles. Taking an explorative approach, this study aims to analyse the application of AI in newsrooms, focusing on the impact on news-making processes, media routines and profiles, highlighting the benefits and shortcomings, and finally, analysing the rise of ethical dilemmas. For this purpose, 15 in-depth interviews were conducted in two rounds, in 2019 and 2021, with a sample of journalists and other media professionals, academics, experts on the media industry, and providers of technology leading the work on AI. The international sample includes interviewees from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain. The interviewees agree that AI will enhance journalists' capabilities by saving time, augmenting the efficiency of the news-making processes and, therefore, increasing mass media industry productivity. However, a change of mind-set in the media environment is needed, and training on the use of these tools must be a priority given the lack of knowledge observed. Finally, the emergence of ethical issues underlines the need for continuous control and supervision of the processes undertaken by AI.