Discussion | AI's role in journalism: What experts say

Experts from academia and the media industry opined that Artificial Intelligence (AI) should be a tool for journalists, not a replacement, and added that while AI offers efficiency, human judgement is irreplaceable.

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They debated the challenges and opportunities AI brings to media. The discussion at Chennai's DG Vaishnav College revolved around AI’s increasing influence in journalism, media ethics, and audience engagement.

AI-generated misinformation

A major concern is AI-generated misinformation. AI models predict words based on patterns but can produce misleading content, known as hallucination.

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"Large language models do not think; they predict. Without oversight, misinformation spreads easily," said Venkataraghavan, Product Engineer, AI at The Federal.

The panel also discussed how AI biases shape news and search engine results. AI models trained on biased datasets can amplify political propaganda or misinformation.

"AI is trained on biased data, influencing how information is disseminated. This is a major ethical issue," noted Iyan Karthikeyan, Mission Director of Fact Check Unit, Government of Tamil Nadu.

Battle against fake news

AI can both create and combat fake news. While AI quickly scans data for fact-checking, human expertise is necessary for verification.

"AI can verify large datasets, but it lacks the reasoning skills of human journalists," said Karthikeyan.

Dr. Deborah Raj, Professor at Madras Christian College, raised concerns over AI-driven social media and data privacy breaches. She said, "AI controls social media. Your data is constantly tracked, and privacy is at risk."

AI in film and content creation

Dr. Jayakrishnan explored AI’s impact on filmmaking. Platforms like Google Veo and Pika 2.1 allow directors to generate high-quality animations. "Can we call AI-generated films animation? These tools redefine filmmaking but also raise ethical concerns," he said.

"If AI assists in content creation, copyright is valid. If AI generates it fully, authorship is denied. Where do we draw the line?" Dr. Jayakrishnan asked.

AI and fact-checking in journalism

With Meta removing fact-checking policies, concerns over unchecked misinformation have risen. "Fact-checking is crucial, but major platforms deprioritise it due to business interests," said Karthikeyan.

AI can assist in verification but cannot replace journalistic expertise. The discussion emphasised the need for transparency in AI-driven media.

AI training for media students

Panelists stressed the importance of AI education for media students, equipping them with skills in prompt engineering, ethical AI use, and data verification. Dr. Deborah highlighted the Cambridge Analytica scandal, showing how AI-driven data mining manipulated political outcomes. "87 million users’ data was compromised during the 2016 US elections. AI ethics must be prioritised," noted Dr. Deborah.

AI is reshaping journalism and media ethics. While it streamlines content creation and fact-checking, it also raises concerns about misinformation and bias. The future of media depends on integrating AI responsibly while ensuring human oversight and ethical journalism.

The content above has been generated using a fine-tuned AI model. To ensure accuracy, quality, and editorial integrity, we employ a Human-In-The-Loop (HITL) process. While AI assists in creating the initial draft, our experienced editorial team carefully reviews, edits, and refines the content before publication. At The Federal, we combine the efficiency of AI with the expertise of human editors to deliver reliable and insightful journalism.