How should journalism respond to rise of AI?
Doha
Journalism is anything but immune to the advance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). And in a world where 'fake news' and 'post-truth' have become almost everyday terms, questions arise about the implications for human knowledge that a reliance on AI for information, especially among young people, could create.
So if people increasingly rely on AI in the pursuit of knowledge, without conducting their own analysis and applying their own critical mind, what could the consequences be – and how can they be avoided or managed?
AI includes a diverse range of technologies that can be defined as 'self-learning, adaptive systems.' It can be categorised based on technologies, purposes (like facial or image recognition), functions (such as language understanding and problem-solving), or types of agents (including robots and self-driving cars). It also includes methods and disciplines such as vision, speech recognition, and robotics, and can enhance traditional human capabilities. Recent progress in the field of AI has been driven by advancements in computer processing power and data techniques.
However, the irresponsible use of AI may lead to serious consequences that negatively impact individuals and communities. This is where the role of journalists becomes crucial – independently and truthfully monitoring, investigating, and reporting on the issues that shape global society, while exposing the misuse of AI to create false narratives, and raising awareness of these among the public.
This is a key responsibility of journalism in the digital age, especially as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently warned of the risks associated with AI on World Press Freedom Day saying it can be 'used to spread false or misleading information, increase online hate speech, and support new forms of censorship. Some actors also use AI for mass surveillance of journalists and citizens, creating a chilling effect on freedom of expression.'
Against this backdrop, Dr. Marc Owen Jones, assistant professor of Media Analysis at Northwestern University in Qatar – a QF partner university that offers programs in communications and journalism – believes we are in the early stages of what he describes as the influence of 'blind epistemic power,' where AI threatens to flood the digital knowledge ecosystem with misleading information.
'The massive scale and speed of content production through AI technologies pose a threat to human knowledge in favor of machine-generated knowledge, which does not necessarily aim to enhance awareness, but rather to exploit platform algorithms for other purposes,' he says.
'This creates a kind of noise in the information landscape. It affects the intellectual system and gradually weakens the public's ability to distinguish between trustworthy journalism and low-quality content designed to attract and manipulate audiences.
'AI may undermine the cognitive infrastructure necessary for critical thinking, human memory, and logical debate. While the long-term intellectual consequences are not inevitable, the current trajectory raises concerns about a profound transformation.'
However, Dr. Jones also emphasizes that AI offers significant opportunities, such as analyzing vast amounts of data and overcoming language barriers; for example, journalists from India to Latin America are using language models to investigate corruption, track organized crime, and uncover algorithmic bias.
'Journalists must move beyond the role of passive users of technology and become active players,' he said. 'This requires supporting independent journalism, enacting appropriate legislation related to AI, and adopting a culture of AI literacy in newsrooms – while reinforcing the role of the human element and upholding ethical responsibility.
Hessa Al Thani, a graduate of Northwestern University in Qatar, shared her experience of the impact of AI in spreading misinformation, saying: 'I saw a deepfake video of a political figure that looked very real – I didn't realize it was fake until later.
'In this era, AI-generated content is everywhere, and it's incredibly easy to fall into its trap. That's the primary goal: to mimic humans and blur the line between what's real and what's fake.'
She acknowledges the creative potential AI holds in the context of journalism, in areas such as gathering information, drafting questions and emails, and editing text, but says. 'Our core strength as journalists lies in our ability to tell stories. When this ability is handed over to a machine, the stories become hollow, sometimes unethical, and biased – especially as this technology continues to be developed in the West.'
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