By Abhinav Pandya
The most prominent theme at the THISAM 2023 lectures was the impact of technological advancements on the future of journalism, particularly focusing on the effects of AI. This topic featured in several lectures:
- Impulses and Influence of New Technologies on Journalistic Practices and Strategies in the Media Sector
- Digital Public Diplomacy
- Journalism in the Era of AI and ChatGPT
- Symbiogenesis: Learning to Live and Work with Artificial Images
- The Influence of New Technology and Disinformation on Journalists’ Working Practices
- AI-Powered News Product Pitch Contest
The recurrent presence of this theme at THISAM highlights the uncertainty, fears, and apprehensions within the journalistic community about the impact of emerging technologies on journalism. This article aims to provide a brief analytical overview of the potential threats and benefits of these technologies.
It's pertinent to mention that in European journalistic circles, AI and its potential effects are a grave concern, while in South Asian circles, this issue has not gained much traction. Interactions with Indian journalists and media studies students revealed that AI-related issues are still peripheral in classroom and newsroom discussions. Academic institutions focusing on media still prioritize conventional media like radio, television, and, more recently, the internet; however, AI has yet to find its place in policy deliberations.
Based on interactions with several THISAM 2023 participants and Western journalists, the harmful effects of AI, as perceived by some experts, could unfold in the following ways:
- Generative AI replacing journalist jobs
- Difficulty in distinguishing truth from falsehood, leading to the circulation of false songs or images of celebrities
- Ease and speed of creating fake material
- Deepfake manipulation
- Creation of fake evidence
- Impersonation of sources
- Manipulation of public figures’ images and visual propaganda
- Privacy violations
- Attribution challenges
- Plagiarism and copyright infringement
- Discrediting of photojournalism
- Challenges in forensic analysis
A notable example of AI misuse was Trump's latest attack on DeSantis (May 2023), using a sarcastic video featuring DeSantis, Hitler, Soros, and the Devil. DeSantis responded with an image of Trump with Anthony Fauci (June 2023).
AI, working on algorithms, can scrape trillions of data points from the internet and create new information, facts, and scenarios. However, problems arise if these data sets are interpreted out of context or manipulated by vested interests. Additionally, dictatorial regimes could use AI to surveil and malign journalists critical of them, using deepfakes and social media attacks executed by bots.
Conversely, AI is also seen as beneficial for journalism in several ways:
- Illustrating news articles
- Reconstructing historical events
- Generating infographics and data visualization
- Detecting and verifying deepfakes
- Virtual and Augmented Reality applications
- Maintaining anonymity
- Retrieving damaged visuals
- Providing creative assistance (dubbing, translation, script completion, drafting, and restyling)
- Internal document and media search, saving hours of manual work
While there are alarmist tendencies and fears about AI's detrimental impact on journalism, a broader tendency is to mitigate these fears by understanding AI as a new technological tool with potential benefits. However, it must be cautioned that, unlike other technological advancements, there is a risk of humans losing control over AI, or it being used by individuals and organizations for sinister agendas, potentially causing major harm to society, the state, and its institutions. Although it's premature to predict all possible scenarios, it's evident that AI will likely revolutionize not just media but the overall world order.
