Article published by London Metropolitan University
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) presents new challenges for journalists, as it essentially creates new material from scratch, said Tami Hoffman, a specialist in AI and journalism.
AI has the potential to shape the news cycle, often unfairly, if used without human oversight, she said. “AI carries inherent biases that can affect how news is reported if journalists fail to properly vet it, with the risk of historical stereotypes being perpetuated in the digital future,” she explained.
To mitigate these biases, journalists need to carefully refine their queries. “The better the queries, the better the outcome. Use AI with your eyes open – don’t be seduced by its superficial charm.”
Another major challenge is AI ‘hallucinations’ – cases where the system generates inaccurate or completely fabricated information. This poses a significant risk to journalists, as it can lead to misinformation and erode public trust. “If journalists rely too heavily on AI, their work can become hallucinated by artificial intelligence and trust can be lost.”
To navigate these risks, the UK’s Independent Television News (ITN) has chosen to incorporate AI into production while keeping it separate from the core journalistic process. For example, it uses AI for tasks like color grading in post-production rather than content creation.
While AI can streamline workflows and help deliver news, Hofmann cautioned against relying too much on it, especially for summarizing stories. “It’s problematic to use AI for news summaries, because you don’t know where the information is coming from.”
ITN has set clear AI guidelines emphasizing editorial independence, rigorous content verification, ongoing scrutiny of stereotypes and biases created by AI, and awareness of legal implications. Most importantly, the use of AI must be disclosed transparently and editorial decisions must “always remain under human control,” Hoffman said.
Ultimately, maintaining human oversight is critical. “If a human isn’t invested in creating something… they’re likely to just stamp it out. If we do something wrong in the newsroom because of AI, it’s not the AI’s responsibility, it’s the newsroom’s responsibility, which could be damaged by reputation,” Hoffman said.