THE RISE OF CHATGPT 

The popularity of artificial intelligence began in late 2022, with the launch of the innovative new website, ChatGPT. A demo of the bot was released to the public for testing by OpenAI. 

The initial intrigue stemmed from asking the site to generate a fun fact, or answer a relatively complex question. However, once discovering the power of this technology, it grew into something much larger and more useful than a ‘fun fact generator.’

“But people in general, and  journalists as well, tend to overestimate the amount and pace of change in the short term and underestimate the amount and pace of change in the long term. So when something new comes along we often think, ‘Oh my God, this is gonna change everything,’” said Ingram.

And the question is, will it change everything? Quite possibly. The journalism industry – or rather media driven careers  — have not been the same since the development of new technologies, think printing presses, emerging film, video and audio technology and now advanced computer programs, including generative AI, “A chatbot that some people think could make Google obsolete, and that is already being compared to the iPhone in terms of its potential impact on society — isn’t even OpenAI’s best AI model,” wrote Kevin Roose, in his New York Times article, The Brilliance and Weirdness of ChatGPT.

AI AS A TOOL

While the risks and concerns remain relevant as AI technology advances, journalists say that when used wisely, it can function as a tool. 

The talk of AI in newsrooms is evident, but so is the use of the technology – primarily in the generation of ideas. Generative AI allows for the collection of concepts and story ideas for journalists to pick from and work with. 

Trint is an AI transcription tool created by Jeff Kofman, after a 30 year career as a journalist. Trint was born out of the desire to make the most tedious yet necessary task as a journalist efficient. 

Trint’s main goal is being a useful tool in the newsrooms; and that there is a difference between using AI as a tool versus a replacement. 

However, in order to use AI as a resource wisely, already established fact-checking and research skills can be put to use. In a way, artificial intelligence as a tool may be the slight push needed to further emphasize and improve journalistic skills. 

“There’s the opportunity for the journalist with the human touch, with the human interest, with the human judgment, with ethics perhaps but also intelligence. AI can’t do that, AI can’t do curiosity, it can’t do campaigning and doesn’t always understand the way that disinformation works. So I think that the real task there is for the journalist to build the integrity of their work, and I hope that AI will enable them to find the time and resources to do that, to do better human journalism,” said Charlie Beckett, founding director of POLIS and professor at the London School of Economics. 

However, while debating the notion of whether artificial intelligence is a tool or toy, the way  the technology is used is ultimately up to the user. If used with the intention of creating quality reporting, AI has the potential to the change the game in journalism, “I think it is an interesting phenomenon where it’s putting – in some aspects – more emphasis on our analytical abilities as humans and allowing us to use those skills in a more appropriate way,  divorced a little bit from just some of the grunt work. And generative AI can help there in some regards so that then we are freed up to do the more constructive, analytical, insightful journalism that I think the audience is actually looking for,” said Patrick Dell the Senior Visuals Editor at the Globe and Mail at The Canadian Journalism Foundation’s (CJF) Misinformation in the Age of AI panel.

“I definitely use [AI] very often to cut through things that are a little bit more boring,” said freelance data journalist, Xavier Richer Vis.

Vis said that he does not particularly reach for AI programs in his work, however, cannot deny that it has a place in being a helpful tool when it comes to the more minute aspects of the job. 

“When it comes to doing some of the smaller, more tedious parts of my jobs, like the code writing and stuff like those things that I know it’s good at,” said Vis. 

But even then, where do journalists draw the line?

“It’s a question to ask oneself, when you want to use it, right? Like, is this too tedious? Or is it just tedious enough that I’m willing to do it? Because I want to make sure it’s worth the risk of using the exact program,” said Vis. 

Aside from functioning as a device for efficiency, AI is used in newsrooms for kickstarting ideas. Forget the brainstorming and research, ChatGPT most likely has the means to pitch a story. 

CONCERNS REGARDING AI IN JOURNALISM

Although AI technology can be beneficial as a tool, there is still valid concern for what happens when said tool’s power is abused. 

With AI programs’ potential – or rather ability —  to do everything a journalist can do (and more) the need to gather materials – sources, interviews, research — and even plan out and write a story, can prospectively diminish.  

“We don’t have a say in the ethics behind their invention. We don’t have a say over whether it should even exist in the first place. ‘We’re creating God,’” wrote Nick Bilton, quoting an AI engineer in his article, “Artificial Intelligence May Be Humanity’s Most Ingenious Invention – And It’s Last?”

The rapid and ever changing development of AI technology puts the journalism industry in a risky place. There is a chance that the appeal of AI will become so strong to the point where it is given the chance to completely take over the industry. Journalists say hard to tell at this point in time. 

“We don’t really know how good it’s gonna get. We don’t know how fast it’s gonna get. We don’t know how it’s going to sort of fail or in which ways. But ChatGPT only came out like a year ago. So we’re not even in the first inning. We’re in like the first half of the first inning,” said Ingram. 

The importance of the practice and culture of journalism is rooted in the fact that it is more than a form of communication, but an art form. 

“Our stories are told in words and music and art of all kinds. We didn’t just invent the piano, we used it to compose Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2.,” said Bilton.

With discoveries of how AI can be used as a tool, in making the completion of simple tasks more efficient, the focus on the ever-developing tech is on the bigger picture, rather than the ways in which it can alter the small one, daily, “we should build things that help ‘humans flourish rather than making humans redundant,’” said Paul Kedrosky, an economics researcher and investor in AI. 

With technology that can perform as well as a human being can – that does not need to be paid, how important will the upkeep of jobs in the industry really be? “Obviously there’s short term risks that companies as we’re seeing now will kind of outsource huge chunks of content generation to AI and get rid of journalists because that’s the cheapest thing to do,” said Ingram. 

The loss of creativity in its purest form begins at the rise of AI technology, “The creative arts will enter a golden age, as AI-augmented artists, musicians, writers, and filmmakers gain the ability to realize their visions far faster and at greater scale than ever before,” said businessman and software engineer, Marc Andreessen in his piece about the benefits AI will have to everyday life.  

The battle to stay relevant in one’s respective role in the journalism industry remains constant as technology develops by the day. Journalists say these changes are meaningful to their jobs requirements.  

“We were so busy, journalists in general and media companies kind of trying to keep our feet and adapt to the technology in terms of our jobs, writing or whatever that we maybe didn’t spend enough time thinking about what the implications of these changes were,” said Ingram.

The rise of AI programs mean so much more than potential loss of jobs. They mean diminished skillsets, adapting to the latest technology, and new methods of carrying out learned expertise. 

“I think there has been so much change in just the mechanics of of journalism and media that we maybe lost sight of  how it was changing the whole way that media functions and why people even pay attention to journalists — or do they and what even is a journalist?” said Ingram.

Where are journalists left on the media and communications scale of importance in the case of an AI “takeover?” Freedom of the press may be at risk, by letting go of the reins and handing them to a robot,  “news is not ‘content,’ readers are not ‘users,’ stories are not ‘syntheses.’  A truly free press controls its language from start to finish. It knows where its words come from, how to choose and defend them, and the power that comes from using them on the public’s behalf,” wrote Mike Ananny and Jake Karr in the article “Press Freedom means Controlling The Language of AI.”

Another pressing issue regarding AI in the journalism industry is, what will happen to the young journalists entering the industry with AI as such a prominent tool in the newsroom? 

“You know, I’m a relatively younger journalist, I’m still developing my own writing skills, my own ability to, to effectively communicate what I find important. And so as part of that, I don’t want to use ChatGPT to help me write it because it just takes away learning opportunities for me to be able to use. Also, not to mention, the, you know, the strong possibility for plagiarism,” said Vis. 

With AI at everyones fingertips, it becomes easy to fall into a pattern that involves reaching for the tool that will provide efficiency. However, being weary and protective of the fact that there is learning to be done without the help of AI is crucial. 

Idea generation and pitch writing can be done with the help of AI software, but at what point is there a reliance? “It’s not in my voice, right? Like, I want to be able to write in my voice,” said Vis.

“It is, after all, the difference between almost human and the actually human that matters at the end of the day. It’s why, for now, putting AI into customer-facing or critical roles seems deeply unwise,” wrote Navneet Alang in their article in The Star titled: “Maybe AI isn’t ready for prime time.” 

There are both benefits and risks that come with the fascinating and efficient nature of AI technology. While the use of it as a tool no doubt has a place in many industries, including journalism, being weary of how far users take it with the robot is necessary, “Healthy skepticism is warranted,” said Alang. 

AI AS A SHINY NEW TOY 

The infatuation with the speed in which this technology is able to expel information – and with language that can pass as intellectually sound and reliable content, blinds users from the dangers of becoming too reliant on it. 

“For one thing, it’s just generating content that isn’t true,” said Ingram.

The appeal of the amusing site that can spew out any information from a measly prompt is high, allowing ample room for not only play but dependency, “It’s literally just autocomplete on the scale of the entire Internet, so all it’s trying to do is fill in the next words after your prompt,” said Ingram.

Ingram is a technology writer, who has also entered the world of AI in journalism through his exploration of AI software in newsrooms and the OpenAI x New York Times lawsuit. 

“If you are using AI to generate ideas or even just to kind of aggregate information and spit it out in certain ways, every piece of software that is written by human beings, every algorithm has a bias built into it and in some cases multiple biases built into it.”

While exploring the appeal of the toy that is AI, users are at risk of going too far and not recognizing that the information they are retrieving from the program has a different origin than they thought, “Those biases stem from the people who programmed it,” said Ingram.

The dangers of using generative AI programs include not knowing where the generated information is sourced from, leading to a couple outcomes; the original journalist being discredited, incorrect information provided to the user and in turn, disinformation in the users material.

“So if all your algorithms are programmed by young white guys who live in Silicon Valley, then there’s gonna be all kinds of biases that are built into that algorithm that they may not even be aware of,” said Ingram. 

In the article by Ingram, “Is AI software a partner for journalism, or a disaster?” he explores the idea of AI incorporating — or essentially spewing out “hallucinations.”

“Something that everyone needs to be highly aware of is the hallucination phenomenon of AI’s where they just make up stuff and it can sound authentic and it can keep presenting apparently authentic content that’s entirely made up,” said Dell. 

Although well versed in creating cohesive content, AI software has no awareness of what it is generating or rather, writing. This is where the slip-ups and errors come in that users may not necessarily catch.  

The career as a journalist is one of integrity, truthfulness, and dedication that requires an individual’s hard work. With the use of AI in media, said work turns into anonymous information generated by a computer program,“Whose creativity, whose originality, whose hard work used to be able to train something? And then why aren’t they necessarily being rewarded for that?” said Vis.  

Both of the following videos provide information about how the development of technology impacts the journalism industry. One of the videos represents AI generated text, whereas the other is human generated. Can you differentiate the content?

“THE TAKE OVER”

A large worry that stems from AI’s remarkable abilities is “what will happen to journalists?” Regardless of the way the new technology is integrated, there are ways in which AI may find a comfortable spot in the journalism industry. 

“There’s no question we’ve seen other technologies replace jobs in journalism,” said Ingram. 

This phenomenon of the ‘tech takeover’ is not a new one, as it has been seen as many developments have arisen over time, “I mean photographers, there are nowhere near as many photographers as there used to be because photography is a lot easier now.”

Although photography was able to develop overtime without diminishing the careers revolving around the practice, AI in journalism functions differently, “media companies and every other type of company will always choose the cheapest route. Even if it’s worse in all sorts of objective ways,” said Ingram. 

The rush to push out content no matter the circumstances is at the forefront of many outlets’ concerns. Not to disregard the dedication to quality reporting and coverage, but if there is a way to work more efficiently, that is the path that will be chosen. 

Journalism doesn’t exist to give reporters and editors a pay check,” Shafer wrote.“It exists to serve readers. If AI helps newsrooms better serve readers, they should welcome its arrival.”

AI MISCONCEPTIONS 

Although advancing at a rapid pace, AI is yet to hold the capacity to take over the journalism industry. 

“I think a lot of people argue that how AI will be used in newsrooms, is akin to other workplaces, it’s not really going to take over your job, it’s just going to become an essential tool in your toolbox,” said Vis. 

The “tool” like properties of AI technology overpowers the capacity we think it holds at this point in time. The power of the programs is not at a threatening level… just yet. 

“Honestly, yeah, it’s a little too early to tell, which we are going to be able to automate the news, the extent to which artificial intelligence will be integrated into people’s jobs,” said Vis. 

Similar to any other developments that have come out of the constant rise of technology, it is all in the way one chooses to use the tool. When used as a toy, AI can be infatuating as a means to allow it to have complete control over whatever tasks the user so chooses.  “And so it’s not good or bad in that sense, it’s up to you to determine kind of how you use it and do you pay attention to what it’s doing and you kind of, are you using it for good or evil, you know?” said Ingram. With that, the programs work in the user’s favour, it is just up to the user to decide what that means.

“The Internet doesn’t care, the internet’s just like a hammer or you can use a hammer to build a building, or you can use a hammer to kill someone. The hammer doesn’t care. It’s not intrinsic in the hammer,” said Ingram. 

Just because this technology was developed with the skills for users to lean into the “Do It For You” nature of the tech, does not mean that is the way it should be used, “A computer can never be held accountable, therefore a computer must never make a management decision,” said the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in a statement back in 1979. Even with its fascinating capabilities, users will only get so far with giving up control to AI programs, “Machine’s are getting better at writing their own code. But human-level is ‘light years away,’” wrote computer scientist Dzmitry Bahdanau on Twitter (X). 

There is no doubt that the content AI is able to produce carries many risks when considering it as a tool, but those risks are useful to acknowledge before committing to adding it to your toolbox, “the glaring weakness of AI at the moment is precisely its uncanniness. That small gap between what a person can produce and do and what an AI can do amounts to an enormous difference,” wrote Alang.

The effect artificial intelligence can have on one’s content and their lives as a whole is entirely up to the ethics and intentions of its use. 

“You can do things with it. You can do bad things with it. It can create beautiful things. Useful things or it can create terrible things and destroy people’s lives,” said Ingram. 

THE NEXT GEN 

“The crappy thing about it is, it’s people younger than you that I’m more worried about,” said Mohit Rajhans, media consultant at ThinkStart Inc. 

While addressing the concerns around the reliance on artificial intelligence in journalism, I can’t help but consider the skills that need to be developed before even reaching the point of entering the journalism industry. 

With the age of AI we find ourselves currently in the midst of, there is a certain fascination with the technology present in the younger generation. With generative AI programs right at their fingertips, the generation that is still developing important base level skills; such as brainstorming, research, and written skills, are at risk of falling into a pattern of reliance instead of practice. 

“I think that I’m more worried about a generation where you’re not able to create critical thinking, in the manual for use,” said Rajhans. 

Prior to coming close to entering into the world of media, one needs to develop skills that can only further their content and expertise in their work. With the infatuation and rapid rise of new technology, there may come a point where the knowledge of navigating AI becomes the base-level skills.

The future is AI, it’s just a matter of the way it is used, “There’s no past from this conversation. If you know what I mean. Everything is back in the day before AGI (artificial generative intelligence),” said Rajhans. Gone are the days where there is no such program that can generate an essay for you. But with that comes the potential consequences of submitting an AI generated essay.  

“What these kids are still going to walk into are skills that are being depleted, jobs that are being depleted, industry that needs less from them in the way that it currently is. So you know us wagging our fingers about what they should and shouldn’t do — you won’t survive,” said Rajhans.  

I know that artificial intelligence can serve as a useful tool going forward in many respective industries, and have no intention of singling out people who have added AI to their toolbox and saying ‘don’t do that;’ but to highlight a fair warning that we should be weary of the way in which these programs are being used. With the right intentions and careful usage, these programs can do wonders, “The amount of time I can spend with ChatGPT just querying, to get to the right place, makes me extremely optimistic about what a journalist will be able to do with these tools and the next two years,” said Rajhans. 

Witnessing both the rise of artificial intelligence and the way it has moved its way into an industry that has such a prominent emphasis on truthfulness and authenticity has highlighted both the pros and cons of the future of AI. 

The reliance on new technology is something to keep in mind when expanding one’s horizons and expertise to accommodate the AI programs in the newsroom,“There’s a uniqueness about you that can’t be replicated, duplicated, and you can’t live with a puppet on your hand the whole time trying to make a different version of yourself work. I’ve never seen it work for anybody in journalism,” said Rajhans.  

This new technology performs according to the user’s intentions and therefore is a double-edged sword, “And so maybe in some sort of weird way, having AI around you forces you to train yourself to know and be better and do more and understand more and understand more about an issue and understand more about how to listen for the clues and not just read the same sources as everybody else. I think that’s one aspect that we don’t consider, that maybe artificial intelligence pushed the journalist to be better and not just a better writer,” said Rajhans. 

Video answer key: AI generated (Left), Human generated (Right)