You could be forgiven for thinking that journalists, like others who make their living from writing, would be among those most in danger of being made redundant by generative AI.
After all, tools available today at practically no cost are already capable of churning out thousands of articles by the minute.
However, studies such as this one suggest that nearly three quarters of us still prefer to read news content that’s written by a human.
According to other studies, it’s a different story with marketing copy. So perhaps we still feel that humans should take the lead when it comes to writing about serious and important topics.
So, if news organizations aren’t yet ready to make wholesale cuts to their workforces, and independent bloggers and writers can still find an audience, is the generative AI unimportant to them?
Not at all. There are many other ways they can leverage this world-changing technology to become more productive, efficient, and effective at spreading the word. So, here’s a rundown of the most realistic changes I think those working in these occupations will see in the coming years.
Writing
Writing is what ChatGPT is best at and there are many other AI platforms such as Writesonic and Jasper that are specifically built to create written text. But does anyone want to read what they write?
Human writers, journalists and bloggers build a following because people like what they say and the way they say it – not what they’ve made an AI write for them.
However, there are still many ways journalists can use generative AI to do their job better.
It can be used to summarize documents, reports, charts or even entire books that will inform their work.
It can help with structuring stories by suggesting the best way to present information. It can generate a list of questions that people reading their articles might want to find the answers to. And it can cut down the time it takes to write proposals, synopses and outlines, and other periphery pieces of writing needed to conduct the business of journalism.
Generative AI is likely to have a big impact on the working processes of journalists and other writers. But I don’t think journalists – good ones, at least – have to worry about being replaced by AIs for a while.
Good journalism involves coming up with original thoughts that people want to hear. While generative AI can write in a convincingly human way, ultimately, all it does is repurpose and restructure existing knowledge. Journalists will thrive in the AI age by honing their ability to uncover new facts, bring original thinking to issues and debates, and give it to their audiences in compelling, human ways.
Charts And Graphics
Journalists and bloggers often support their writing with data in the form of charts, infographics, or other visual representations. Traditionally, this would require data skills and an in-depth understanding of graphical communication.
Thanks to generative AI, journalists will simply describe the visualizations that they need and let AI generate insightful, compelling graphics. It will identify trends and suggest the best ways to present information.
Ultimately, this will make data-driven storytelling more accessible.
Reviewing And Editing Work
Once a writer has finished an article or report, it will often pass through the hands of numerous editors and sub-editors before reaching the intended audience.
Generative AI will play an increasingly important role here as it becomes routine to use it to critically appraise human output and suggest improvements. It can examine the evidence presented by the writer and identify areas where there may be holes or inconsistencies. It can also suggest alternative lines of inquiry that an article could pursue or raise important considerations that a writer might have overlooked.
Personalized Reporting
While writers and readers might prefer to read human-created content, generative AI could be useful when it comes to personalizing stories to suit a particular audience. For example, a writer could write one article giving an overview of a subject for a mainstream, non-technical audience, then use AI to personalize it depending on who is reading it – adding more technical details for experts or perhaps simplifying language further to make a version that can be better understood by children.
Automated Reporting
Many media outlets were already experimenting with automated news before generative AI exploded. Mainly, this involved using AI to fill out templated news stories by adding facts and figures from incoming data streams. For example, short sports or economic reports were being created simply by using AI to add the names of winning teams or stock market activity.
Although this enables news organizations to publish stories in large volumes and very quickly, they are very formulaic. By using generative AI, the templated parts can be re-written in order to make stories that are more interesting to read and also cover the more unusual or quirky elements that can’t be communicated simply by pulling in structured data.
And The Ugly …
Of course, there is a downside to this, as AI has undoubtedly already increased the amount of “churnalism”—low-quality journalism that simply regurgitates (or fabricates) facts to fill pages and sell advertising space.
And we can’t gloss over the fact that it’s inevitable that this kind of technology will be used by less scrupulous writers to spread disinformation, false news and propaganda.
Today’s AI can easily create convincing but entirely false narratives, and we will see this done both to make money and to destabilize political and democratic processes.
Another issue for news outlets relying on generative AI to create audience-facing content is that it isn’t always reliable and does make mistakes. Take, for example, a recent bulletin put out via a tweet stating that Elon Musk’s “massive space sex rocket” had exploded thanks to an AI transcription error.
Ultimately, though, audiences vote with their views and loyalty. Those outlets that avoid engaging in underhand tactics or becoming over-reliant on AI and continue to put out valuable, original content will be rewarded with engaged, trusting readers, viewers and listeners.
