The rise of AI in journalism and what it means
Introduction
AI has been around for a long time. Artificial intelligence dates back to the 1950s, when a research project at Dartmouth College was conducted, birthing AI (Science and Technology, 2025). It began to make its way into the world of journalism in the 1980s-1990s, where its main purpose was computer-assisted reporting and data collection (Bahroun, 2023). It has since grown in both usage and development, and in recent years, has had its big boom. The creation of AI software companies has popularized the use of artificial intelligence, with some examples being Dataminr, ChatGPT, Sprout, Spredfast, and more. The topic of its use in journalism is a controversial subject because of ethical concerns. With that being said, AI is overall a bad thing for journalism because of bias, privacy concerns, inaccuracy, and more.
AI’s Impact
Artificial intelligence is impacting journalism in every way. One study found that 67% of media leaders in 53 countries said they use AI for story selections and recommendations (Newman, 2023). This is a huge difference from how it was just twenty years ago, when AI was much more limited in its abilities. There has also been a shift in the dependency on these softwares. Objectives that used to fully rely on human intuition are now being replaced with technology (Simon, 2024). Technology focuses on speed and efficiency, so it may not give the best or most accurate response. On top of this, it is being used in every way to produce news and depict audience engagement. AI can generate earnings reports and recaps, and it can produce transcripts and search results (CNTI, 2025). There are AI systems such as ChatGPT that can generate information, and there are other softwares such as Dataminr and Sprout that can find stories quickly or manage what is popular with a brand. Overall, the way news is being reported is changing rapidly.
Strengths and Weaknesses
There are some strengths that come from using AI. For starters, it can help to generate story ideas as well as come up with ideas for headlines (Azzo, 2024). As mentioned earlier, it can transcribe interviews and generate summaries for a journalist which can save a lot of time as well. Softwares are very helpful with time management because of this ability to summarize and monitor what is going on. While these are all helpful things, there are also numerous weaknesses that come along with the use of AI in journalism. For starters, the rise of AI also comes with the fall of the traditional news in a way. Companies like Google now have AI in their search engines, so now consumers are beginning to get their information from these large language models instead of news sources (Azzo, 2024). Generative AI also has a lot of issues such as the potential for copyright and inaccurate information, as well as biases (CNTI, 2025). Lastly, because of this rise in AI, increased prices in technology may begin to affect the abilities of news companies (Azzo, 2024).
Ethical Considerations
The final thing that explains why AI is bad for journalism is the ethical concerns that come with it. One study conducted by ResearchGate found that ethical challenges from adopting AI in the newsroom contain data bias, privacy violations, and the absence of regulations and legislation on using artificial intelligence in journalism (Alzoubi, 2024). It is difficult to find an agreement on legislation and also difficult to finalize it because of different demographics and also because there is a lack of clarity as to what determines something as AI (CNTI, 2025). There is also the issue of the consumer trusting social media and AI more and more. Consumers believe that artificial intelligence is less biased and can be trusted more than human journalists in some circumstances (CNTI, 2025). This is worrisome because there are numerous studies that show how AI can be just as biased, misleading, and inaccurate as any other piece of journalism. These are things that should be taken into consideration when discussing the ethics of AI.
Conclusion
In conclusion, AI can have a lot of positive effects on journalism, but overall, it is more of a negative thing for journalism because of its ethical concerns and impending future on how consumers find news and how journalists produce news. The rise of artificial intelligence is bad for traditional journalism because people are now getting their news from Google and Microsoft instead of major news sources. On top of this, it is also bad for journalism as a whole because of its inaccuracy, bias, copyright issues, and more that stem from AI generators. While it is true that AI can help journalists find stories and assist in time management, overall the negatives outweigh the positives.
References
Alzoubi, O. (2024, January). (PDF) Artificial Intelligence in newsrooms: Ethical challenges facing journalists. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377979122_Artificial_Intelligence_in_newsrooms_Ethical_challenges_facing_journalists
Amponsah, P. N., & Atianashie, A. M. (2024, January 18). Navigating the New Frontier a comprehensive review of AI in journalism. SCIRP. https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=130552#:~:text=In%20the%201980s%20and%201990s,and%20organize%20data%20more%20efficiently.
Artificial Intelligence in journalism. Center for News, Technology & Innovation. (2025, January 28). https://innovating.news/article/ai-in-journalism/
Azzo, A. (2024, February 5). How journalists can use AI technologies to “speak truth to power.” How Journalists Can Use AI Technologies to ’Speak Truth to Power’ : Artificial Intelligence at Northwestern – Northwestern University. https://ai.northwestern.edu/news-events/articles/2024/how-journalists-can-use-ai-technologies-to-speak-truth-to-power.html
Newman, N. (2023, January 10). Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions 2023. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/journalism-media-and-technology-trends-and-predictions-2023
Simon, F. (2024, February 6). Artificial Intelligence in the news: How Ai Retools, rationalizes, and reshapes journalism and the Public Arena. Columbia Journalism Review. https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/artificial-intelligence-in-the-news.php
The Birth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) research. The birth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) research | Science and Technology. (n.d.). https://st.llnl.gov/news/look-back/birth-artificial-intelligence-ai-research
Shelby Wilson | Journalist 