Where automated workers were once a mainstay of upbeat sci-fi visions of a better future, the potential of AI means the sense of threat may be holding us back from benefitting from it.
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Could AI replace your role at work? Be honest; you’ve wondered about it. Just as importantly Upgrade Media’s work in training means we know for a fact that It’s a question on the minds and lips in your newsroom. Of course it’s scary, but the experts we talk to offer good reason to believe this is a moment of evolution, not extinction.
The fear is hardly surprising. There’s no shortage of articles detailing the 100 professions due to disappear in the near future due to AI. The fact that these are themselves often written by, and inevitably illustrated by, AI only helps increase the sense of impending doom.
Journalism is, of course, one of the jobs on that list of 100 disappearing professions, and journalists know that, which means they often don’t share their organisation’s enthusiasm for the potential of AI.
The sense of threat itself can hold back the benefits AI undoubtedly offers.
Media Pioneers, Upgrade Media’s recent series of live chats with industry experts, included a session with Philippe Laloux of Le Soir. The self-styled digital pastor, generator of web journalists and new media agitator talked about the impact of AI on journalism, and wasted no time getting to the point.
In his experience the problem is all too often that organisations see AI in terms of productivity (which it undoubtedly is), but fail to stress (or even understand) how that only emphasises the importance of editorial value.
As he says, in the boardroom the conversation goes; “what is the promise? It’s about productivity gains. You’re going to make huge savings. We’re really going to make productivity gains.”
On the newsroom floor, however, that story doesn’t come across so neatly. “We really thought it was a complete game changer. We can see that the adoption rate is slipping despite everything.”
The reason for which is that, from a journalist’s perspective, “you’re going to generate 100 briefs or 1,000 briefs in a minute on a subject, maybe it’s 100,000 briefs, but with no depth, no added value. What’s the point of generating editorial noise?”
The good news is that the descent into AI slop only highlights the importance of the genuinely human touch, the editorial value, the brand. The good news is that handled properly, AI can be the answer as much as the problem.
“So we have to look at things from the journalist’s point of view (…) They want to regain confidence, reliability and credibility with their audiences. And AI can be just such a solution. I think that today, the tools we have at our disposal are equal to the expectations of journalists, so that they can do their job better, they can be augmented”.
But don’t take our word for it. If you missed Philippe on LinkedIn Live we’ll shortly be releasing his reasoning in audio and video on the Upgrade Media site. We’ll keep you posted as we publish, and we look forward to your input on the debate.
About Upgrade Media: Upgrade Media is a creative agency, strategy consultancy, training center and media transformation think tank, through its brand New World Encounters.
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