Mastering AI in Journalism: From Anxiety to Adaptation

On April 14–15, the European IQ Media Conference on “Innovation in the Media” was organized by the Group Nice-Matin and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. IQ Media Hub hosted a workshop titled : How to help journalists survive the oncoming AI onslaught ?

💡 The integration of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) into journalistic practice represents a paradigmatic shift in our field’s foundations. During my recent presentation at the IQMedia conference in Athens, I examined how this technological revolution challenges our fundamental understanding of journalistic practice and professional identity. Drawing from more than 25 years of journalism experience, including my role in establishing The Conversation Canada, I suggested that Gen AI’s emergence necessitates a critical re-examination of journalistic professional norms and practices.

🛑 Discussion about AI in journalism fluctuates between technological determinism and professional concerns. While the promise of enhanced productivity through AI automation is compelling, it raises profound questions about labour displacement and the quality of journalistic content. Contemporary newsroom practices demonstrate this tension from the Associated Press’s algorithmic monitoring of municipal governance for story generation, or the BBC’s exploration of AI for social media posts. These cases exemplify both the potential and the precarity of AI integration.

🤔 The prevalent utilitarian approach to AI integration in journalism reflects a concerning reductionism in the profession’s evolution. This efficiency-focused paradigm fails to recognize the irreducible human elements of journalism, namely expert knowledge, unique analytical perspectives, and the experiential authority of firsthand reporting. Publications like The Economist demonstrate how human expertise remains the cornerstone of high-calibre journalism, even in an AI-augmented landscape.
The path forward demands a sophisticated synthesis of technological literacy and journalistic expertise. In my presentation, I stressed the need to learn to work with AI, encouraging journalists to explore the development of prompt engineering skills and strategic deployment of AI tools. Emerging platforms such as Perplexity and Google’s NotebookLM represent promising opportunities for augmenting journalistic research and developing stories.

👏 This technological inflection point in journalism’s evolution demands a delicate equilibrium between embracing innovation while preserving the essential human elements that constitute the core of quality journalism. The future of journalism depends on the ability to navigate the complex intersection of technological capability and journalistic integrity.

✍️ Alfred Hermida PhD (School of Journalism, Writing, and Media, University of British Columbia)

📸 Franck Fernandes (Nice-Matin)