AI In Tomorrow’s Newsroom: How Journalists Will Balance Critical Thinking With AI Applications

As we close out 2025, it’s clear that AI is an accepted part of many newsroom and publishing processes. 

In fact, a new Trint survey shows nearly 1 in 5 (18%) newsroom professionals are using AI extensively across a variety of functions, with 2 in 5 (41%) using it moderately. Of the remaining respondents, 32% have limited use and 9% aren’t using it, but plan to within 6 months.

So whether AI evolves into becoming an essential part of publishing processes remains up to those who’ve adopted the tools and are continuously learning how to take advantage of the applications at their fingertips.

“While newsrooms are already actively experimenting with AI, their adoption remains cautious and limited, focused more on efficiency than on a groundbreaking transformation,” says the press release for Trint’s The Future Newsroom report. “This quiet adoption is in stark contrast to the overwhelming consensus that AI literacy will be crucial for all journalists in the coming 1-3 years. This suggests the dam is about to burst, and that the industry is on the precipice of a skills revolution.”

Transcription was the most-widely used AI application (for 86%), followed by translation (73%), research and fact-checking support (50%), and content creation (50%).

(Source: Trint)

Looking ahead at the skills journalists will need most in the next few years, 87% said digital verification and fact-checking techniques, 70% said AI prompt engineering, and 61% said data analysis and interpretation, all pointing to competencies that the “hybrid journalist” will need to flourish.

“Even as new technical skills become non-negotiable, our data shows that traditional journalistic values like ethical decision-making and critical thinking will become more important than ever,” says Trint, “which is driven by ongoing ethical concerns around generative AI.”