In 2023, the Centre for Media Transition has conducted a widescale investigation of the attitudes towards generative AI in news production and steps being undertaken by Australian newsrooms to prepare for its possible deployment.
The results indicate that newsrooms are experimenting cautiously with the technology. They see strong upside for news production, particularly around the absorption of menial tasks that have arisen with digitalisation, and an opportunity for trusted brands, conditional on maintaining robust editorial processes. However, editors are attuned to the significant downside of generative AI use if accuracy, authenticity and bias are not adequately dealt with. Transparency and human oversight are critical. Newsrooms are also concerned about the use of their news archives to train AI systems without recompense. Meanwhile, efforts at regulating AI are gathering pace around the world. These mostly focus on transparency and safety-testing obligations for AI systems and regulating high-risk uses. Promoting quality news and information will be essential in an increasingly polluted information environment.
In 2024, we will expand on this research to look at the following emerging issues:
Whether it is necessary and feasible to develop common guidelines or standards on the use of generative AI in news production.
Whether there would be any benefit in incorporating generative AI into the News Media Bargaining Code or similar legislation, and what this would entail for news businesses and AI companies.
How newsrooms and AI developers and platforms might collaborate to address issues of bias, misinformation and deepfakes.
Click on the image below to read our report:
