Can artificial intelligence produce exclusive news? A critical statement from an expert

Journalism stands out as a labor-intensive profession. Although some argue that with the development of artificial intelligence, journalism could be performed by AI, communication experts and academics do not share the same view.

Speaking to Sibel Gülersöyler from Haber Global, Doğuş University Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. İlknur Doğu Öztürk stated that she does not define news written using artificial intelligence as journalism, saying, "I do not think that producing news without receiving data from a human is journalism. The technology we call artificial intelligence consists only of algorithms."

THE HUMAN FACTOR

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Öztürk also stated that news texts written by artificial intelligence technically do not comply with news writing rules, and added the following:

"Sometimes there can be content produced just for clicks, just to be news and to stay on news websites for a longer time. Still, the accuracy of this content needs to be checked by a journalist. However, if in the future artificial intelligence replaces humans and makes decisions independent of algorithms just like a human, then we can talk about possible threats and dangers."

CAN IT PRODUCE EXCLUSIVE NEWS?

Öztürk added that artificial intelligence currently cannot perform investigative journalism, interviews, or exclusive news, and said:

"Algorithms currently only evaluate data that is in the digital environment according to demand. However, I think it is appropriate to seek help from artificial intelligence in using journalistic skills such as categorizing available data, choosing a striking headline for a news text, selecting the highlight sentence to stand out from a news text compiled by a journalist, or choosing the most striking photo, as these are supports that accelerate the news writing and publishing process."

"NO NEED FOR ANXIETY"

Prof. Dr. Süleyman İrvan, Dean of the Faculty of Communication at Üsküdar University, draws attention to robot journalists, which have recently found application opportunities, especially in the American media. Noting that robot journalists continue to produce finance, weather, earthquake, and sports news in newspapers such as the New York Times, İrvan said, "In some areas, they can produce news faster and more accurately than journalists. Therefore, there is no need to worry about journalism; it can even be said to be a positive development when viewed in terms of society's need for information and news."

"EDITORS WHO COPY-PASTE MAY BECOME UNEMPLOYED"

Expressing his thoughts on whether some journalists will become unemployed as artificial intelligence finds more areas of use, Prof. Dr. İrvan assessed, "Editors who engage in copy-paste journalism, which is very common in Turkey, may become unemployed. There is no need for a 'human journalist' to copy and paste a published news story."