The Journalism department focuses in AI for its first Talk of the year
The first Journalism Talk of the academic year was held at Loft58 on 16 November and centred on a debate on the development of artificial intelligence and its consequences on editorial practices. This topic was selected based on the dissertation of Lou Lampaert, graduate student of the master in Journalism in 2023. The panel comprised Eglantine Nyssen (Roularta Media Group), Nicolas Becquet (L’Echo) and Yves Thiran (RTBF).
When it comes to journalism, AI can be summed up in two key words: threat or promise. The idea of predatory behaviour by GAFAM1via AI raises a lot of issues in terms of copyright. Two conflicting visions are possible with the increasingly simple use of these tools. The first defends the idea that AI technologies will free journalists from redundant tasks to produce quality information. The second vision involves drawing attention to implicit strategies designed to replace journalists with AI in order to make employment-related financial savings. Furthermore, editorial staff are subject to the agenda of technological development of AI. This distorts their strategies for effective use. However, as noted by one of the speakers, journalism is accustomed to adapting to new technologies and will find a way to integrate all of this into its practice. According to the most recent analyses, AI could automate less than 15% of journalistic tasks at this stage, but given the potential scope for AI development, professionals are genuinely concerned. Finally, the debate demonstrated that AI impacts the production and dissemination of information, but is also disruptive when it comes to the job profiles of future journalists.
