World Governments Summit: Media leaders debate future of storytelling in age of AI
There is no doubt that AI has revolutionised newsrooms worldwide. The topic was at the centre of discussion at the World Governments Summit's segment on 'Future of Communication and Storytelling' that was attended by global media personalities.
In journalism, storytelling has always been a purely human endeavour. However, AI has revolutionised newsrooms worldwide. This fact was at the centre of discussion at the World Governments Summit's segment on 'Future of Communication and Storytelling', which saw several media personalities and filmmakers brainstorm on the importance of human judgment and ethics in journalism in the age of AI.
Kalli Purie, Vice-Chairperson and Executive Editor-in-Chief of the India Today Group, stressed that AI cannot replace the human connect reporters bring through on-ground storytelling. However, she underlined that AI could play a crucial role in augmenting desk roles in newsrooms.
"One of the places where we feel we can do a certain amount of augmentation is in the desk roles, where we are rewriting the stories. But we absolutely cannot at this moment in time replace the human connection that reporters bring to the newsroom by telling the story with empathy," Purie said.
The India Today Group's vice chairperson outlined what she called an "AI sandwich" model that was being embedded in the work process. "You have human intent in the beginning, you have AI in the middle to help you augment, and then you have the human decision at the end, which is the final call," Purie said.
Echoing Purie, Mina Al-Oraibi, chief editor of UAE-owned The National, said while AI was useful in terms of news gathering for verification, humans were needed on the ground for feature and human-interest stories.
"AI is great in terms of news gathering for verification, crowdsourcing, sifting through it, but essentially you need humans on the ground to go get the human interest stories and speak to people and have that direct relationship," Mina said.
'AI IS JUST AN ENGINE, DRIVER IS HUMAN'
India Today Chariman and Editor-in-Chief Arun Purie was firmly of the view that AI was an engine that must remain under human control. "AI, for me, is just an engine. But the driver is a human and also has the brakes," he said.
He argued that in an era of information overload, the true value of journalism lies in interpretation and ethical judgment. "This is where institutions are important, institutions that have been built on the old values of journalism of trust and credibility," he said.
Continuing from where he left off, Kalli Purie stressed that people tend to return to established news brands during major events. "When there's a big event, you find that the audience comes running back to credible news brands," she said.
However, she pointed out that the notion of trust might be viewed differently in an "AI-native society". Kalli Purie suggested that younger audiences, or Gen Z, might perceive trust differently from older generations.
"Digital-first natives don't think about privacy, dating, love, relationships in the same way as the boomers. What if the AI natives don't see trust in the same way as we do? What if a bit of lying and a bit of hallucination and a bit of cunning is okay for them?" she said.
She warned that such a shift could pose existential challenges for legacy media organisations built on credibility and trust.
Recently, the Washington Post, one of the most influential media organisations in the US, fired around 300 journalists.
Speaking at the summit, Mexican filmmaker Luis Mandoki underlined that AI does not eliminate people, but "eliminates poorly designed tasks and maximises human ability".
Overall, the summit concluded that AI is here to stay. How media organisations embrace their efficiencies while safeguarding human values will be the challenge moving ahead.
In journalism, storytelling has always been a purely human endeavour. However, AI has revolutionised newsrooms worldwide. This fact was at the centre of discussion at the World Governments Summit's segment on 'Future of Communication and Storytelling', which saw several media personalities and filmmakers brainstorm on the importance of human judgment and ethics in journalism in the age of AI.
Kalli Purie, Vice-Chairperson and Executive Editor-in-Chief of the India Today Group, stressed that AI cannot replace the human connect reporters bring through on-ground storytelling. However, she underlined that AI could play a crucial role in augmenting desk roles in newsrooms.
"One of the places where we feel we can do a certain amount of augmentation is in the desk roles, where we are rewriting the stories. But we absolutely cannot at this moment in time replace the human connection that reporters bring to the newsroom by telling the story with empathy," Purie said.
The India Today Group's vice chairperson outlined what she called an "AI sandwich" model that was being embedded in the work process. "You have human intent in the beginning, you have AI in the middle to help you augment, and then you have the human decision at the end, which is the final call," Purie said.
Echoing Purie, Mina Al-Oraibi, chief editor of UAE-owned The National, said while AI was useful in terms of news gathering for verification, humans were needed on the ground for feature and human-interest stories.
"AI is great in terms of news gathering for verification, crowdsourcing, sifting through it, but essentially you need humans on the ground to go get the human interest stories and speak to people and have that direct relationship," Mina said.
'AI IS JUST AN ENGINE, DRIVER IS HUMAN'
India Today Chariman and Editor-in-Chief Arun Purie was firmly of the view that AI was an engine that must remain under human control. "AI, for me, is just an engine. But the driver is a human and also has the brakes," he said.
He argued that in an era of information overload, the true value of journalism lies in interpretation and ethical judgment. "This is where institutions are important, institutions that have been built on the old values of journalism of trust and credibility," he said.
Continuing from where he left off, Kalli Purie stressed that people tend to return to established news brands during major events. "When there's a big event, you find that the audience comes running back to credible news brands," she said.
However, she pointed out that the notion of trust might be viewed differently in an "AI-native society". Kalli Purie suggested that younger audiences, or Gen Z, might perceive trust differently from older generations.
"Digital-first natives don't think about privacy, dating, love, relationships in the same way as the boomers. What if the AI natives don't see trust in the same way as we do? What if a bit of lying and a bit of hallucination and a bit of cunning is okay for them?" she said.
She warned that such a shift could pose existential challenges for legacy media organisations built on credibility and trust.
Recently, the Washington Post, one of the most influential media organisations in the US, fired around 300 journalists.
Speaking at the summit, Mexican filmmaker Luis Mandoki underlined that AI does not eliminate people, but "eliminates poorly designed tasks and maximises human ability".
Overall, the summit concluded that AI is here to stay. How media organisations embrace their efficiencies while safeguarding human values will be the challenge moving ahead.