2023 4th International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Application on Media (ISAIAM 2023)
Countdown
Prof. Alfred Hermida

Alfred Hermida.png

Prof. Alfred Hermida

University of British Columbia, Canada


Speech Title: AI in journalism: Faster and cheaper but not necessarily better and stronger

Abstract

As AI become increasing widespread in journalism, with the adoption and implementation of these technologies entwined with newsroom practices, values and routines. Broadly, AI has been deployed to support, extend and enhance existing journalistic practices such as news gathering and production. This talk considers how the use of AI has been largely shaped by short-term concerns of newsrooms, shaped by a background of socio-economic challenges and exacerbated by the lack of strategic vision. The lure of AI systems lies in their capacity to perform existing tasks faster, cheaper and more efficiently than humans, leading to a utilitarian approach that falls short of the potential to rethink and reinvent journalism. This talk aims to fuel conversations on how to reorient approaches to AI in journalism, considering what it could and should do to foster a vibrant, diverse and representative media ecosystem.