Beyond Automation: How AI Will Reshape Newsrooms and News Consumption 

AI’s Impact on Journalism: Friend or Foe?

News organizations are experimenting with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to see how it can change journalism. Early tests by Sky News produced mixed results, with some AI-generated stories being nonsensical.

Experts believe AI won’t replace journalists entirely, but will transform newsrooms. Professor Charlie Beckett of JournalismAI says newsrooms will likely shrink as AI automates tasks like research, scriptwriting, and some online news writing.

However, new jobs will emerge, such as those focused on editing algorithms and reviewing automated content. Cost savings could then be directed towards investigative and in-depth reporting, areas where human skills remain irreplaceable.

Universities are grappling with how to prepare journalists for AI-powered newsrooms. Professor Ian Reeves highlights the risk of AI producing unreliable content and emphasizes the importance of teaching core journalistic skills like interviewing, fact-checking, and holding power to account. AI is more likely to replace tasks like churning out content from existing sources, which some argue isn’t real journalism to begin with.

For consumers, AI could personalize news delivery by reformatting content based on preferences and delivering it across different platforms (audio, text summaries, etc.). This future envisions a “Robocop journalist” empowered by AI tools and a content creation system that tailors their work for different audiences.