The authors suggest two ways to counter this threat: collective action by journalists to demand fair compensation and control over the use of their content by GenAI companies, and a radical reshaping of GenAI infrastructure to ensure it serves the public interest. They emphasize the need for journalists to understand and critique the underlying data and assumptions of GenAI systems, and to resist the temptation to accept GenAI-generated content as "good enough". They argue that a truly free press should control its language and defend its use of words, and that GenAI, in its current form, is incompatible with this ideal.
Key takeaways:
- Generative AI (GenAI) systems pose a significant threat to press freedom, potentially undermining the autonomy and integrity of journalism by using statistical models to generate language and content.
- GenAI is becoming increasingly entrenched in the news industry, with many news organizations using it to create content, which deepens the industry's dependence on tech companies and their data infrastructures.
- Journalists need to collectively address the implications of GenAI for press freedom, potentially demanding fair compensation from GenAI companies and greater control over the language and content produced by these systems.
- Journalists also need to critically engage with GenAI infrastructure, examining the underlying data, assumptions, and politics of these systems, and asserting their power to shape, critique, or reject them as necessary.