Integrating AI in Journalism Education

It's no secret that journalism has not been able to keep up with the digital era. In a profession that's been marred with furloughs, layoffs, and the concentration of the news-gathering function, anything that will lessen the burden of the reporters, editors, and designers who are left is welcomed. Newsrooms have started using AI applications such as transcribing meetings in order to cut time involved in the writing process. In contrast, others have turned to generative AI to write articles themselves, which editors then review. Universities and organizations worldwide are diligently examining how AI can and should be implemented in modern newsrooms.

The Generative AI In The Newsroom Project at Northwestern University seeks to find out how AI might function in newsrooms of today and tomorrow. It highlights that although there are means by which generative AI might save time and expense, there are very real issues regarding accuracy and plagiarism, as well as the viability of using AI to produce news content.

How AI can enhance journalism is an evolving scenario, but schools of media that train young journalists must be quick to address AI in the syllabus currently.

There's a familiar old journalist adage that goes: if your mother tells you that she loves you, you should get a second source. In the age of AI, journalists must be more cynical than ever of the "facts" as presented. With only a few keystrokes in Chat GPT, as shown in this article, it is possible for anyone to generate a reputable-sounding newspaper crew, website, and articles that don't exist. It's too easy to do these kinds of things, further undermining what remains of the public's confidence in journalism. Journalists appear to be divided into two groups when it comes to AI. The first is filled with gloom, lamenting that this is the end of journalism as we know it. The second is slightly more optimistic, seeing some potential for using AI to support newsgathering instead of replacing the human beings who make it happen.

Journalism and media schools must lead the way in investigating how GenAI and AI can assist in making journalists' daily lives better and easier, enabling them to concentrate on more impactful stories.

What can be done by AI is still pending. Educators at all levels are currently dealing with an absence of resources to assist with teaching students AI literacy, reports a Georgia Institute of Technology scholarly article.

Stakeholders in an Online News Association article say J-schools need to be learning the tool's limitations and where a human element is still indispensable. Some are already underway or done.