Views /Opinion

In the age of AI, truth remains the journalist’s responsibility

How can media ensure that journalism still serves society truthfully and effectively during this time of artificial intelligence (AI)? What is the obligation of journalists in today’s AI driven world?

Is it the responsibility of journalists to tell the truth and uphold the highest ethical standards such as fairness and transparency? What about when journalists do journalism with AI? Who carries the responsibility of informing and educating society? What constitutes truth when real and AI manufactured content co-exist side by side and when algorithms decide what audiences should consume?

In recent times, I have found myself reflecting on journalism’s purpose in the world particularly with the rapid pace at which AI is being developed and integrated into contemporary newsrooms. Over the last few weeks, I have been privileged to contribute to Qatar’s leading daily English newspaper, The Peninsula, on how generative AI is impacting the practice of journalism and why the human journalist still holds a significant place in journalism despite fears about job displacement. This is part of my current research work on journalism and generative AI.

In this article, I draw on research on investigative journalism and argue that journalists and media organisations have an obligation to tell the truth to society so that they can make informed decisions about issues affecting them. AI may be employed to support this mission, as it is not capable of accomplishing it independently. I also acknowledge that artificial intelligence has been integrated into investigative journalism before the introduction of Chat GPT at the end of 2022 and the rapid development of GenAI because of the benefits it offers.

For more than a decade, I have engaged in sustained scholarly research on investigative journalism, examining its evolving journalistic practices, actors, tools, funding models and societal impact. Investigative journalism, sometimes referred to as watchdog, accountability, or adversarial journalism, is highly regarded for its ability to uncover information that would otherwise remain hidden.

In the context of artificial intelligence, investigative journalists increasingly incorporate AI tools to enhance accuracy and efficiency in the newsgathering, production and dissemination processes. In larger news organisations, investigative journalists have been using AI actively for analysing huge data sets and identifying patterns of wrongdoing, insights or predictions beyond what is humanly possible. In these newsrooms, we witness a new culture of collaboration, where technologists work together with data journalists, money laundering experts among others to identify patterns of wrongdoing. This culture of cooperation contrasts sharply with the traditional lone-wolf approach, where reporters compete for the scoop which still happens to this day. By sharing ideas, skills, tools and expertise, investigative journalists do in-depth reporting of complex societal challenges providing society with reliable and truthful information.

At the Global Investigative Journalism Conference (GIJC), the world’s largest international gathering of investigative journalists, which takes place annually in November, journalists often share the latest tools and techniques including sharing experiences of investigations they have embarked on and how they leverage on AI tools to promote truth-telling.  AI is used to analyse health, financial records and various other databases. For example, United States, non-profit, the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), has used AI to analyse health records acquired through freedom of information (FIOA) requests. 

Data Journalism sometimes overlaps with investigative journalism and uses AI to generate leads, data cleaning, visualisation and webscraping among other tasks. Most countries today have freedom of information legislation which allows journalists unprecedented access to information that was previously inaccessible.  

As a result, journalists can tell new and unique stories that go beyond the routine daily press briefings, press releases and official statements. This allows them to provide citizens with thorough analysis and scrutinise those in power regarding unusual subjects, such as noise pollution, monitoring migratory bird patterns, embezzlement of funds among others (see Data Journalism handbooks). Topics of public interest include exploring Ramadan schedules across different regions e.g. done by AJ Labs, Iftar meals, the preservation of Christmas customs and traditions, the most popular names for boys and girls throughout the years in different countries, and the oldest residents in various locations, among other subjects.

Put differently, artificial intelligence provides journalists with opportunities to reveal fresh perspectives on everyday life and challenge assumptions about what is newsworthy. For many years, newsworthiness has centred on what is out of the ordinary which frequently results in the predominance of negative news and the sensational. I still remember my very first lecture at journalism school, where the lecturer introduced us to the phrase, ‘when it bleeds, it leads’. This phrase highlighted that stories marked by drama, conflict or misfortune count as news. The lecturer went on to illustrate the concept of newsworthiness with another memorable phrase: ‘when a dog bites a man, it is not news, but when a man bites a dog, that is news’.

These early lessons highlighted how journalism prioritises the unusual or unexpected, shaping how stories are selected, framed and presented to the public. This is still the norm decades later for most conventional journalism.  Nevertheless, despite the current climate of widespread negativity because of war, drought and other humanitarian disasters in Iran, Gaza, Sudan etc. I have been privileged to connect with audiences who genuinely seek news that uplifts, encourages positivity, and highlights the good in the world. Regardless of how AI is integrated in contemporary newsrooms, journalists bear the responsibility of truth telling.