Journalism faces a decline of traditional business models. News leaders are increasingly pressured to reorient toward data-driven logics. Many news organisations now bet big on AI investments, hoping that the technology can generate additional revenue or free up staff time.
But problems emerge: Some journalists fear being replaced with AI; There are possible frictions between journalistic values and the values encoded into AI systems and infrastructures; Little is known about the impact of AI on the news and the health of our public discourse. AI also poses the risk of making news organisations even more reliant on the technology and platforms companies that dominate in AI development—potentially aggravating the economic problems that news organisations face.
The aim of this project was to identify key issues in this space and start a conversation among academic and industry leaders about those issues. These included:
Starting in March 2021, this project investigated these and related questions, generously funded by Oxford University’s Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH) and the Minderoo-Oxford Challenge Fund in AI Governance and with administrative support from the Oxford Internet Institute and Balliol College. The aim of the project, led by Felix M. Simon and co-launched by Prof Gina Neff, was to identify key issues in this space, collect evidence, and start a conversation among academic and industry leaders about those issues.
These efforts culminated in a public symposium held at Balliol College on 25th May 2023, which sought to foster discussions between industry experts, academics, and students on the key issues identified during the active research phase. The summary report provides an overview of the main themes that emerged and outlines recommendations as well as blind spots to be addressed in future research.
DPhil Student
Project role: Principal Investigator
Felix is a OII DPhil Student, a research assistant at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and a Fellow at Columbia University's Tow Center. As a Leverhulme Doctoral Scholar he is researching AI in journalism and the news industry.
Former Professor of Technology & Society
Project role: Co-Investigator
Professor Neff is the Executive Director of the Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy at the University of Cambridge. She is a sociologist who studies innovation, the digital transformation of industries, and how new technologies impact work.
By Felix M. Simon and Luisa Fernanda Isaza-Ibarra
How might AI be used and regulated in the news to the benefit of journalists, news organisations, and the public? This report presents findings and recommendations from the Minderoo ‘AI in the News’ project.
6 March 2023
The technology is a chance for the news if used wisely, argues Felix Simon, doctoral researcher, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.
Digiday, 14 August 2023
As publishers develop generative AI tools for their newsrooms, they have two primary choices when deciding what to build upon: open-source or private large language models (LLMs).
Medium, 26 May 2023
A symposium at Balliol college gathered insights from experts on AI’s role in news organisations and the implications of the technology for our information ecosystem.
CBC News, 01 June 2023
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