How AI is transforming journalism
Artificial intelligence in daily journalistic work: where it is already being used, which tasks it can take care of and what risks it entails.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism is no longer a new phenomenon. AI is also among the tools used to compile stock exchange, weather and traffic reports in Germany. AI is able to sift through and structure large amounts of data. Without it, it would hardly have been possible for example for German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung to publish the “Panama Papers” about the international financial scandal. This involved analysing four terabytes of data.
Here are a few examples of how AI is used:
- Medas: German public service broadcaster ARD uses this AI-assisted program to conduct cross-medial searches of the broadcasting corporations’ digital archives. Medas can find quotes in audiovisual media by searching through the audio track as if it were text.
- Factfox: Fake news and untrue online comments are becoming increasingly widespread. This software makes it possible to present rapidly checked facts and figures to users - regional public service broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk was involved in developing it.
- Crimemap: This Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten project uses AI to analyse thousands of police reports and then pinpoints the locations of burglaries, fires and accidents on an online map of the city. Authors use the Crimemap as the basis for new stories.
Furthermore, over the past year and a half generative AI has come to play a central role in the production of content. It is used to carry out time-consuming and tedious initial work. Long texts such as the minutes of meetings can be summarised, interviews transcribed and graphics generated. This leaves journalists with more time to devote to more interesting work, such as conducting research or writing texts.
Careful handling of the results of AI
A common criticism is that AI contributes to the spread of even more fake news. That’s true, yet at the same time new tools are being used to expose targeted disinformation of this kind. The use of AI also raises the question of whether it may one day make journalists redundant. Researchers agree that it will not. Another increasingly important question is how trustworthy the information presented by AI is. Reputable media organisations therefore check all content created by AI. Images generated or altered by AI are marked as such in trustworthy media.
