Title: Between Hope and Disillusionment: Reassessing Journalism in the Age of AI
Abstract
Discourse on the role and impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on journalism tends to veer from fears about robots replacing journalists to hopes that machines could boost quality journalism. Perspectives on AI are shaped by normative ideas of what journalism was, is and could be, shaped by the expertise and experiences of practitioners, scholars and audiences. It is all eerily familiar to discourses of the early 2000s and 2010s. Back then, the internet and social media were either going to save journalism and foster a more democratic media space, or create a dystopian era where journalism withered and viral falsehoods spread. The reality lies somewhere on the spectrum between hope and disillusionment. This talk explores how AI necessitates a reassessment of the boundary between human and machine, and consequently the nature of journalistic labour, identity and discourse.
Event poster