A paradigm shift in the way media covers AI has been witnessed since OpenAI unfolded the curtains on ChatGPT. Scrolling on mobile, AI-related news pop-ups more often these days compared to a year ago. While some journalism houses talk about AI as an all-knowing oracle, very few focus their attention on the potential misuse of the technology brewing in Silicon Valley.
The one-sided coverage has a silver lining as AI is not just being described as bogus as it was half a decade ago. In an AIM podcast, emphasizing the need for media covering technology, Arvind Balasundaram of Regeneron pointed out that none of us got schooled about AI in classrooms.
While some are framing AI debates according to alarmist visions of the distant future, MIT Technology Review, Analytics India Magazine, WIRED and a few critical voices investigate other angles that are typically left out of business reporting. From economic framings to inequalities and injustices caused by AI, a new array of subjects has become a part of the mainstream media.
J. Scott Brennen, the lead author of a report on AI coverage, said the shift in media portrayal of AI occurs against a backdrop of economic disruption in the industry, with a downfall in specialized reporting in science and technology. He warns that while mainstream media remains a key space for public discussion, it often amplifies the self-serving claims of the tech industry without acknowledging the AI’s consequences. This type of coverage tends to underplay the role of public action in addressing the societal impact of technologies like AI.
AI’s TIME is here
Computer scientists and their research institutions are overwhelmingly present in AI coverage; a recent example is the first-of-its-kind TIME AI list. While legacy publications are acknowledging the community’s growing influence and trying to cover every nitty-gritty of it, the others are busy becoming the subject of technology. AI-generated virtual anchors have debuted in the Indian mediascape.
The growing tribe of robot anchors has received mixed reviews; from ‘emotionless’ to ‘path breaking’. Dressed in a maroon and gold sari, is Lisa, Odisha TV’s first AI newscaster. The lifelike anchor’s job is to deliver news bulletins on digital platforms, read horoscopes and provide weather and sports updates. The channel’s head, Jagi Mangat Panda explained that the objective of using an anchor powered by artificial intelligence was to let it handle repetitive work and free up staff to “focus on doing more creative work to bring better quality news.”
While the majority of newsrooms have started adopting the technology in the recent past several media houses took a step forward years ago. Bloomberg was an early adopter of Cyborg, a program that dissects financial reports and instantly writes news stories with all relevant facts and figures. The Washington Post made headlines when it started using Heliograf, a homegrown AI, to cover the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and congressional elections.
News Wire AP further exemplified the advantages of AI, increasing its quarterly article production on company earnings reports from 300 to 3,700. Lisa Gibbs, Director of News Partnerships and AI News Lead at AP highlighted that AI roughly generates 40,000 stories annually, though this is only a fraction of the agency’s total output. Nevertheless, the benefits of technology in newsrooms are manifold.
Assisting Journalists
Like other AI technologies, the adoption of virtual newscasters has also triggered fears of job losses, despite production companies’ assurances that robot anchors will never replace humans. Regardless of the debate, the use of AI in newsrooms looks likely to only grow. A survey published in May by the World Association of News Publishers found that 49% of all newsrooms globally were using AI tools like ChatGPT.
TIME noted, ‘What is unique about AI is also what is most feared and celebrated—its ability to match some of our skills, and then to go further, accomplishing what humans cannot’, in the pieces explaining the need for the AI 100 list.
While we have an instance of the story by the New York Times claiming Bing’s chatbot wanted to “be alive”; the media should be looking away from the dystopian point of view. Moving away to a much sober coverage should be the way forward according to Burrell of Data & Society, who thinks we’re still in the hype phase of the cycle on generative AI chatbots. Some recommendations as per reports suggest ways for reporters to cover the subject better.
Fear-mongering about AI replacing journalists is not a revelation. Dispelling the notion of AI replacing journalists, Wharton marketing professor Pinar Yildirim points to research indicating that media consumption is not purely rational. People seek news that aligns with their beliefs and worldviews, emphasizing the importance of human perspectives and storytelling in journalism. AI can augment, but not entirely replace, the essence of human-driven news. Yildirim said. “They want to hear news which appeals to their belief system — their version of the world.”
While legacy publications are busy rehashing the news available online, catching up with technicalities and misinformation, AIM entered the picture over a decade ago as a platform for journalists to thrive. From working closely with the developers’ ecosystem, an Indian AI Forum for brewing discussion, and in-house AI powered tools, the company run by Bhasker Gupta has created an environment for covering AI to the best of its abilities.
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