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Whenever the hype for technology slows down a bit, it’s the best time to think deeply about that technology.
It’s pretty clear that generative AI – and AI in general – is here to stay. Accepting this presence does not mean uncritically believing that we should endure technology or that technology is inevitable.
Conversely, we must discuss how to rule AI; we must ask for laws and governance and argue for the need to democratise it and make it a transparent and inspectable technology – which is by far the most critical challenge we have to face, much, much more important than copyright issues.
But we must face a simple fact: AI won’t disappear like a bubble; this is not just hype; this is not just a marketing sales technique – even if we have to train ourselves to recognize what is marketing and storytelling techniques and what is not.
That’s why newsrooms should start thinking about how to use AI technologies and engage readers in an ongoing transparent conversation.
I reached out to Mattia Peretti, former JournalismAI Manager at Polis, Department of Media and Communications: “I think the most useful and adequate approach,” he told me, “is a multidisciplinary approach. The guidelines are important, but they will never exhaust all the possible case studies, all the possible applications of these technologies”.
Peretti is collaborating with The Guardian to draft a policy for journalists and readers: “At the Guardian, they ask themselves, first of all: ‘What are our fundamental principles? How can we translate them into concrete examples’? But they try not to treat journalists in an immature, ‘you can do this, you can’t do this’ manner. The approach is more of the type: these are our principles, we know you can put them into practice, and if you have any doubts you can discuss them””.
“We are considering,” continues Peretti, “the editorial component, the product one, the legal one (especially with text-to-images generative AI), how to combine the editorial part with the more engineering one: among these two departments there are gaps to fill, of reciprocal and capillar knowledge.”
“I do not believe that all journalists must necessarily have advanced technical skills,” he argues, “but at least they have to understand how ChatGPT works, understand the basics, the statistical nature, of these machines. Having someone with these skills in the editorial office is certainly useful. And the ethical component is essential, but it must be part of the whole conversation: we don’t need yet another department dedicated solely to AI ethics. Ethics must be the foundation of working with these machines”.
Peretti believes there should also be more collaboration between the newsrooms because it is the type of topic that does not make sense to deal with in secret: “We need to discuss it together,” he says.
But another former Italian journalist, Mario Tedeschini-Lalli, adds: “There’s nothing wrong with a little deontological competition.” Indeed, publishing how these technologies are used and the newsrooms’ discussions about them can make a difference in readers’ eyes. Creating and disseminating policies is a way to regain the trust of readers, and it is also a way to position yourself with your audience.
To address the challenges and opportunities presented by generative AI in journalism, I propose the following policy recommendations:
Despite the potential benefits, the use of generative AI in newsrooms also presents several challenges that we need to be aware of:
Moreover, the newsrooms should encourage the following:
Wired was one of the first publications to publish an article entitled “How WIRED Will Use Generative AI Tools,” which transparently explains what the editorial staff will and will not do with these tools.
These are the rules proposed by Wired’s newsroom:
We don’t have to agree with any single point of this list, but it is essential to discuss, share these considerations, and make them public and transparent.
In Slow News, the Italian digital magazine I direct, we are working in different directions:
It’s essential to have a conversation about these topics: the goal is also to stimulate a debate about finding ways to define and update policies for these tools.
Should we, as journalists, also have a media literacy role? “I really think so,” says Mattia Peretti. “It’s probably my personal bias, but I continue to believe a lot in the educational role of journalism. We still have possibilities to reach people like few others; it’s a responsibility to be aware of”.
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Alberto Puliafito is an Italian journalist, director and media analyst, Slow News’ editor-in-chief. He also works as digital transformation and monetisation consultant with Supercerchio, an independent studio.
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