The author suggests several measures to mitigate these risks, including tempering the use of AI chatbots, hiring more copy editors, emphasizing fact-checking, and creating guidelines for the use of AI. The article also suggests the creation of "truth beats" where reporters focus on debunking false information. The author argues that newsrooms must be equipped to defend fact before it falls prey to AI-generated misinformation.
Key takeaways:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) may pose a threat to journalism due to the potential for AI hallucinations, fabrications, and illogical deductions, which could further erode trust in news media.
- Four types of AI are being used or under development: Reactive AI, Limited Memory AI, Theory of Mind (General Intelligence) AI, and Self-Aware (Superintelligence) AI.
- Newsrooms should temper their use of AI, hire more copy editors, emphasize fact-checking, establish “truth beats” and create or update guidelines about machine applications to safeguard the sanctity of fact.
- AI hallucinations, or the generation of false information by AI models, can lead to serious consequences, especially in fields like health and medicine, and can further erode trust in research and news reporting.