Prof. Alfred Hermida

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.