By Gabriel Princewill-
The Independent Press Standards Organisation has been urged to develop industry standards on the use of artificial intelligence in journalism.
The warning of “risks” being posed by the use of AI-driven systems in reporting was made after an external review into the press watchdog’s workings by former senior civil servant Sir Bill Jeffrey made the recommendation after warning of “risks” being posed by the use of AI-driven systems in reporting.
The warning follows a report earlier this week that regional publisher Newsquest is creating a new role with a specific remit to expand the use of AI technology.
Newsquest on Wednesday(yesterday) said is recruiting an AI-Powered Reporter who they say will be “at the forefront of a new era in journalism.”
Ipso’s request comes at a time when AI is being used more and more by some news publications to generate content, analyse data, and personalize news feed
Sir Bill wrote : “The traditional press publications which are regulated by IPSO may be the last to be touched by these developments, at least in their most advanced form, but it would be surprising if they were untouched by them.
“Also, their selling point, in an increasingly diverse news market, is the fact that their standards, including standards of accuracy, are set by the Editors’ Code, and regulated by IPSO.
“Indeed, [rival watchdog] Impress has, at the time of finalising this report, launched its new Standards Code and included a change to its accuracy requirements – making specific reference to AI-generated content.
“All of this suggests to me that, between them, IPSO, the Editors’ Code Committee and the industry would do well to develop industry standards on the use of AI. IPSO should position themselves to contribute to that debate.”
Sit Bill’s review also found the watchdog has “influenced the industry for the better”.
IPSO chief executive Charlotte Dewar said: “We’re extremely grateful to Sir Bill for his thorough work undertaking this review.
“It makes clear the breadth of IPSO’s work as a regulator and provides useful detail on both complaints handling and our wider work to drive up standards.
“It also offers much for us to consider on how we can further increase our transparency and accessibility as a regulator, in line with our recently published five-year vision.”
In a document setting out its corporate strategy for the next five years drawn up in March, IPSO vowed to adapt to “technological and financial changes” facing journalism.
It said: “This growth in opportunities for publishers to create new services at speed may increase the pressure on IPSO and our processes. IPSO is well placed to meet this challenge
Advantages And Disadvantages Of AI
The use of AI in journalism has its advantages, but there are also legitimate concerns about its impact on the quality of news reporting, as well as its potential to perpetuate bias and misinformation.
Several news publications have made their plans known with regard to the use of AI in news reporting. The Financial Times, has for instance been using an AI tool called “Ludwig” to help journalists identify trends and patterns in data. The tool has been praised for its ability to help journalists uncover stories that might otherwise go unnoticed.
The Washington Post has been using an AI tool called “Heliograf” to generate news articles. Heliograf was used during the 2016 US presidential campaign to generate articles on the election results. The tool has been praised for its ability to generate articles quickly and accurately.
The Post said it has produced around 850 articles using Heliograf. that included 500 articles around the U.S elections, generating more than 500,000 clicks.
Any advantages in the use of AI in journalism is believed to have its draw backs in terms of its potential impact on the quality of news reporting.
AI-generated content is also believed to lack the nuance and context that is needed to understand complex issues. They argue that relying on AI to generate news stories could lead to a loss of expertise and experience in the newsroom, and could result in a decrease in the quality of news reporting.
As a useful but imperfect technological tool, AI has the potential for bias and in AI-generated news stories. AI is only as good as the data that it is trained on, and data used to train AI algorithms could be biased or incomplete, potentially resulting in AI-generated news stories that perpetuate biases or misinformation.
There re also potential benefits to using AI in journalism. It can help journalists uncover stories that might otherwise go unnoticed. It can also potentially help journalists analyse data more quickly and accurately, allowing them to identify trends and patterns in data that might not be immediately apparent.
In addition, AI can help news publications personalize news feeds for their readers, providing them with content that is tailored to their interests and preferences. This can help to increase engagement with readers and can help news publications to build a more loyal and engaged audience.
Given the potential benefits and drawbacks of using AI in journalism, the need for journalistic standards on the use of AI is without dispute . Such standards could help to ensure AI is used in a way that is ethical, and in line with journalistic principles.
The call for an imposition of standards in the use of AI in journalism is an important step towards ensuring that AI is used responsibly and ethically in the newsroom, ensuring that the highest standards of journalistic integrity are not compromised in the process by those publications that chose to use the technology.