AI is here: Let’s figure out the guardrails
Our panel at the 2024 CAJ conference raised provocative and interesting questions about artificial intelligence and journalism in Canada.
Hey y’all! It’s awards season for Canada’s journalism industry and I’m so inspired by the incredible, public service-oriented work my peers in both legacy and emerging media are producing in these times of need. Congrats to everyone! 👏
I think a lot about what it means to be Canadian since our national identity has been in relative flux over the past decade or so; this also includes the way new trends/developments/technology manifest in journalism and how we choose to embrace them (or not). Compared to the U.S. and Europe, the Canadian media ecosystem has been relatively slow to frame AI as helpful tech (as I said during my recent panel “Artificial intelligence in your news organization” at Carleton University's "Journalism & Artificial Intelligence: An Industry Roundtable). But I think this distinctly Canadian approach — thoughtful, methodical consideration in the face of uncertainty — is a strength.
As mentioned in this newsletter, I moderated a panel at this year’s Canadian Association of Journalists conference in May titled “AI is here: Let’s figure out the guard rails,” featuring panellists Nikita Roy of Newsroom Robots, Florent Daudens of Hugging Face and Jeremy Caplan of the City University of New York’s Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
Coverage of generative AI's impact on society is often alarmist or sensationalist, creating a binary conversation that swings between breathless optimism and fear-based resistance, so my goal for this panel was to provide grounded, practical insights on how to navigate difficult ethical questions around AI in Canadian newsrooms, bridging the gap between these polarized perspectives. (For what it’s worth, as I said during the AI & News Discussion at the International Journalism Festival in April and to The Walrus’ board of directors during my Future of News presentation earlier this month, “there’s a market gap in human connection” that can be filled by the fundamentals of journalism — observing and understanding people through their actions in the real world, telling their stories in a way that highlights the human condition — and can never be replicated by AI.)
Our 45-minute discussion was robust and wide-ranging, but most importantly, it generated concrete takeaways for Canadian journalists who are grappling with how to use AI responsibly in the newsroom. Here are some highlights (special thanks to my fellow CAJ Ethics Advisory Committee member Pat Perkel for compiling these notes):
There are four main principles of AI ethics: transparency, privacy, security, humanity (The Guardian was highlighted as an example for having solid AI ethics principles).
You can’t have a detailed list of “dos and don’ts” regarding the use of AI — think more principles and less guidelines. Instead, use journalistic judgement and your training in the pillars of journalism.
How you use AI will depend on your principles: Is AI meant to replace a person? Expand audiences? How will it impact bias? Which tools fit your ethics?
Newsrooms should define their values before setting any parameters around AI. They should also recognize that guidelines can quickly become outdated as technology advances.
You can’t rely on AI for editorial judgement; a journalist needs to know their beat and question results that come from AI.
An important question for newsrooms is: What level of error are we comfortable with? Because a percentage of error will happen in AI summaries, transcription or translation (like with human error).
Spot-checking AI results and news articles will be necessary to ensure accuracy, especially as use of AI in newsroom workflows scales.
Transparency can be accomplished in different ways; for example, labelling articles in various ways where AI is used, giving a how and why stating what tools were used, providing a how and why that benefits the reader (e.g. faster or broader coverage)
AI tools are not new (for example, grammar and spelling checks in word processing software, such as Microsoft Word, are forms of AI), so think of AI as a co-pilot that helps journalists — but does not produce journalism.
Journalism needs to report critically on AI and not be co-opted, for example, through news media partnerships with AI or corporations that can muzzle criticism.
Society can’t stop the creation of fake content but it can tackle the distribution system, for example, with social media controls.
It remains urgent to challenge bias and defend veracity.
Here are some questions that audience members asked and a truncated summary of the answers from Jeremy, Florent and Nikita:
Q: How can I detect veracity in contributed material, when submitted content is so common these days post-social media?
A: You don’t need technology for that. Rather, one needs to train on the possibility of fakes, to choose not to use suspect materials, to explain what we don’t know and to remove content, including social media we don’t fully trust.
Q: Will AI displace jobs?
A: AI isn’t displacing jobs; the industry, due to failing business models, is cutting jobs.
Q: Should you apply journalistic pillars and declare use of AI in research, or only in the end article?
A: There is a spectrum of risk in AI use, from low in research to high in audience-facing positions. Think of AI use like the use of computers 30 years ago. In the spectrum, you declare the use of AI in some places, and in others, the use of AI is covered by the newsroom ethics statement.
Finally, I polled our audience in advance of the panel, and here were some of their top AI-related concerns in the newsroom:
“Spam, too much email, too many AI-assisted marketers bombarding inboxes.”
“Total ban and they’re not really engaging with it.”
“Catching cheaters in the classroom.”
“Disinformation, biased narrative.”
“AI can be helpful, but it creates public distrust. It lacks a human-level thinking and ethics.”
“How to make it more human-friendly.”
“The threshold of AI use in the newsroom (research vs. news production), lack of industry guidance.”
“Stigma against using AI at all, even in helpful/more efficient ways.”
Do you relate? Let me know by replying to this email!
The Green Line: We’re looking text/video pitches, video editor, social coordinator
The Green Line is looking for freelancers interested in short-form and long-form pitches for text-based articles, as well as videos, from experienced reporters based in Toronto that tackle systemic issues in the city through a solutions lens.
We’re also looking for a freelance video editor and social coordinator.
The Green Line offers highly competitive freelance rates. If you’re interested in pitching or applying, please email your resume, cover letter and links to three clips to hello@thegreenline.to.
Quick and Clean
I’ll be in Montreal on June 18 to speak on the Canadian Communication Association panel, “From competition to collaboration: Finding new partners and advancing shared goals in Canadian journalism and journalism education” alongside some of my fave journalism educators, Aphrodite Salas, Magda Konieczna, Archie McLean and Gabriela Perdomo Paez (say hi if you’ll be there!)
My friend Catherine Corriveau of the Democratic Engagement Exchange wrote this thoughtful Toronto Star op-ed titled, “There’s no room for centrists in Canada’s polarized politics — and that should worry us all.”
As we grapple with declining trust and increasing polarization, practicing care in journalism has never been more important, which is why I recommend reading jesikah maria ross’ new guide, "Taking Care," from the Center for Cooperative Media.
How you can support The Other Wave
My professional mission has always been to support the global movement towards more thoughtful, impactful news coverage, and all the ways that manifests. If The Other Wave gets you to think even a little differently about journalism, especially in Canada, then I will have accomplished what I set out to do. And if TOW gets you to take action and support Canadian media outlets — especially ones that strive to be innovative and inclusive — I will have exceeded my expectations.
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