The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is concerning in numerous aspects but can also be a helpful resource. Entry-level jobs are threatened with its advancement and the possibility of being entirely wiped out in the next 20 years. 

Being a senior and starting my search into the postgraduate job pool, I began to think of my opportunities. I have the essential skills to be a junior multimedia journalist and fulfill other roles in the news industry based on my major and minor. I have also fulfilled the position of Editor in Chief of the on-campus newspaper. Throughout my tenure, I have successfully enhanced my leadership skills and learned about leadership opportunities in the news industry. 

Something that I have battled with in my position is the use of AI. Should it be done away with and should there be a zero tolerance policy on its use? Is it merely a helpful resource that should be used with caution? 

I’ll admit, I’ve used AI in my position. If I needed help coming up with a creative headline, I’d tell ChatGPT what my story was about and ask it to generate a list of headlines. I’ve also used AI to break down complicated information, such as legal documents and statistics. 

I believe if AI is used seldom and boundaries are created around its usage in journalism, there’s no issue with it. The detection of AI isn’t all that difficult, especially when it comes to newer writers. My organization has experienced issues with AI before, and we are now devising a plan against it. 

While AI can hasten numerous simple tasks, it will never be able to replicate humanity. Some news outlets are adopting AI, like I have, to complete simpler tasks. The Associated Press currently uses AI to summarize stories, translate articles, generate headlines for stories and even organize news tips and coverage pitches. Paxton Media Group, a local family-owned company in Paducah, Kentucky, has created its own policy regarding the usage of AI. While AI cannot be used for article composition, script writing, editing or image generation, it can be used for research, headline generation, social media content distribution and other tasks. 

The largest threat is to entry-level journalists. Typically, once a student graduates from a  university, they apply for jobs within their field of study. If AI were to be immersed into journalism, it would very quickly become a replacement for new journalists. The fact that AI can easily adapt to writing styles and summarize long pieces already makes it a candidate for the job. Once a formula is created, any AI machine immediately knows what to do. Even as far as fact-checking, transcribing interviews and the ability to generate basic news stories eliminates junior journalists from the candidate pool. Not only does it suck for the aspiring journalist, media outlets may prefer this content curation in the future to save money.

Another threat is misinformation and deep fakes. AI’s dark side has truly come out over the recent years by creating and distributing fake news but also digitally altering images and videos to falsify information of individuals. Last year, the United States uncovered a Russian “bot farm” that was used to impersonate American citizens on X, formerly known as Twitter, to post pro-Russian propaganda. 

Even during this past election year, former Vice President Kamala Harris was targeted with deep fakes through pictures of her allegedly illegally poaching in Zambia and another instance where she was allegedly speaking about the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump. Deep fakes have even targeted female journalists rapidly since 2022. According to Women Press Freedom, there was one case in 2022 and last year, there were nine cases alone in the first half of the year. Not only are these cases targeted, it discredit and endanger the journalists. 

There are some aspects of journalism that AI will never be able to fully replace. The originality and creativity that a human holds will never be replicated by machines. Machines run off formulas and logic, while humans have emotional intelligence and logic. I, personally, don’t think there is such a formula that will ever replicate emotional intelligence.

Another aspect that will never be replicated is investigative reporting. In order to get to the nitty gritty of a story, digging deep is required. While commands can be given to a machine to research and find answers, interviewing is a staple to the journalism industry. While a robot could gather data and administrative information, it doesn’t have a mind of its own to develop thought-provoking questions for interviews. 

Multiple outlets are pushing to utilize AI in the newsroom and while I think it could be a cautious resource, it needs to be limited in how it is used. Using AI to replace human endeavors is a threat to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics in journalism and seriously threatens what little work ethic is left today.