How Media Schools Must Adopt Artificial Intelligence Literacy

The Associated Press (AP) started automating way back in 2014 by utilizing automation to produce corporate earnings reports — an attempt to liberate journalists from grunt work and concentrate them on "higher-impact journalism."

Since then, the AP has also opened up uses of AI. Today, it utilizes language processing technology for social media monitoring for newsbreaks, and shot lists and storyboard generation by automated video transcription software. Even the organization is creating an AI-based image recognition-based tagging system to streamline and make content accessible even further.

Why AI Literacy is Important in Media Schools

With media evolving in the presence of AI, journalists of tomorrow need to be AI literate. Media schools need to expedite and prepare students to comprehend, analyze, and employ AI responsibly in newsrooms.

With disinformation, the old journalism maxim — "If your mother says she loves you, check it out" — will need to be rewritten. With generative technology capable of churning out real websites, bylines, and stories in mere seconds, today's reporters need to verify not just their sources, but also the validity of the information online.

Adding AI to the Journalism Curriculum

The aim of integrating AI into journalism schools is not to replace journalists but to equip them. AI can assist in data analysis, fact-checking, tagging, and the creation of multimedia, freeing up journalists to concentrate on investigative and human-interest stories.

With the ethical application of AI, schools of media are readying the next generation of reporters with the skills to tackle the future of journalism — and not be replaced by it.