Standard Bearers: How Journalists Are Working With AI Despite Potential Drawbacks

The use of AI has, for almost every industry imaginable, made an indelible impact. And those companies who’ve uncovered the specific tools to help their business are positively glowing from the ever-growing ways they’re making AI work for them.

For many of those in publishing, those AI advantages aren’t without potential drawbacks, varying from the inconvenient to the existential.

Take one recent survey of European journalists, which found that while more than half use genAI tools — including 14% who use it on a daily basis — more than 4 in 5 believe AI will worsen fake news (85%) and erode trust in journalism (83%). 

Still, the opportunity to automate translations (the most popular use for 45%), transcribe Interviews (35%), and proofread (30%) show that genAI as they use it is “primarily applied to support current (predominantly text-based) practices … not yet transforming journalistic workflows.”

“Despite its adoption, genAI is perceived as an assistant rather than a displacement, with journalists emphasizing values like authenticity, objectivity, and human oversight,” the study’s authors write. “Ethical concerns persist, with journalists advocating clear ethical guidelines and shared responsibilities within the news ecosystem.”

What To Make Of AI Fears and Concerns?

Take the recent uncovering of a 2023 OpenAI list that predicted which jobs would feel the biggest AI impact. AI expert Ethan Mollick compared that list to an analysis by Microsoft last month pinpointing actual AI uses and found a startling 90%-accuracy to those predictions, including writers and journalists being amongst the top jobs seemingly targeted by AI’s applications. (Others included translators, customer service reps, sales reps, and telemarketers.)

“Jobs requiring communication and information-sharing are getting hit hardest,” The Neuron’s Grant Harvey writes. “But AI still struggles with visual design, data analysis, and anything requiring real-world interaction.” 

Perhaps that’s where publishers in particular are best equipped to truly make the best of both worlds, using AI tools that make sense for them while taking advantage of the brainpower and trusted talent on hand to fill in those AI gaps.

That adaptation would merely be the latest in a long line of adaptations our publishing industry and its best minds have made over the years. 

Knowing our track record, I have no doubt other industries will be taking their cues from us.