Artificial Intelligence in Journalism

Artificial-intelligence journalism, or AI journalism, is the use of artificial intelligence software and other algorithmic processes to assist in or fully automate aspects of the journalistic process. The AI algorithms used in this are generally categorized through a few broad categories: data collection, content generation, information verification, and news dissemination. The programs that fall into these general categories each play important roles in the story production process, and the combination of their individual output is what amounts to articles that require limited human interaction to generate. The behavior and capabilities of any automated software depends on the developers approach to creating the program, and this ultimately dictates the quality of the article that AI journalism is capable of creating. While there are no guidelines for the way in which these software function, typically, they follow a similar process. It involves an algorithm that is capable of scanning large amounts of provided data, identifying and piecing together key points gathered from the data, and combining this information to generate a human-readable piece. Aspects of writing like tone, expressiveness, and style are customizable, and largely dependent on the data which the AI algorithm was trained on.

The idea of automated news has existed for nearly a half century, with its earliest implementations beginning with numerical and statistical reports for topics like weather, and financial news. The automation of more advanced types of journalism and reporting is a relatively newer field, and very much still in its infancy. However, the rapid growth of AI technologies over the last decade due to increased computing power, reduced costs, and greater investment has enabled bolder and more powerful algorithms to enter the space, allowing more complex forms of writing to be emulated by software.

The role AI will play in journalism's future is hard to tell. AI journalism holds the potential to alleviate menial burdens from humans, increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and giving news agencies more time to delve into increasingly complex and pressing topics. At the same time, this technology raises concerns over content quality, and has the ability to threaten the role of humans journalists in the field.

https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2095&context=honors_capstone https://sciencemediahub.eu/2019/10/08/the-use-of-ai-in-data-journalism-what-are-the-ethical-implications/ https://cedarvalleysentinel.com/journalism-ai-and-ethics/#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20use%20of%20AI,and%20prejudices%20of%20their%20creators. https://www.futurity.org/ai-journalism-2778042-2/?fbclid=IwAR3rb0pZAVbzhVSSMmgXEUTYNwMmZgIFRuOZDxol8m_raeli7ruePMM_Dug https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/2/2/14

After doing some research it appears that the use of AI in journalism shows some significant promise One of the things that are on a lot of individuals' minds is the future of journalism jobs and the need for a human element to add an emotional flare to the work and accuracy of the information which can be challenging to quantify as much of journalism is dependent on both fact and the interpretation and emotional reaction of the points, the latter of which may be hard to replicate using solely AI. The other ethical implication of AI is the dependency on it to be free of bias which is something that is worth considering since it can be difficult to understand the inputs and logic of the AI reporting inaccuracies or even with a particular lens with the guise of being accurate is dangerous due to the implications of inciting one particular group. Lastly it would serve best to use AI in conjunction with human journalists because a symbiotic relationship would work best in order to ameliorate the problems of reporting that could result from AI dependency.

Applications

Cost Reduction

Automated journalism would drastically decrease the cost of content production. Over the last two decades, the news industry has been somewhat stagnant and showing signs of decline in profitability and growth. With decreasing budgets, it's becoming harder for local news agencies to stay afloat, which hurts communities. The advent of AI in journalism addresses this issue, as automation leads to drastically lower costs. Cutting costs can help news agencies handle greater pressure by eliminating many human costs, while still adhering to quality.