Balancing innovation and ethics in the modern journalism era
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is an opportunity for media organisations in Central Europe to increase efficiency, innovation, and productivity. However, the new technology also brings risks of more sophisticated disinformation campaigns and electoral manipulation in the future. These are concerns shared among media organisations in Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
Across Central Europe, AI’s integration into journalism has sparked a mix of enthusiasm and scepticism. On one hand, AI tools promise to streamline operations, enhance content personalisation, and improve data management. On the other hand, they raise ethical concerns, especially regarding the creation and dissemination of disinformation. These are the findings of research by Thomson Foundation conducted among media professionals in the region.
The comparison across the region reveals a nuanced picture of AI’s integration into journalism. In Czechia, journalists worry that AI could boost disinformation and potentially distract the public from key issues and manipulating voting behaviour. Similarly, in Hungary, social media platforms have become battlegrounds flooded with propaganda, further exacerbated by the proliferation of fake profiles. In Poland, disinformation efforts involve fact-checking initiatives and media watchdogs that rely on AI tools for tasks like comment moderation and content analysis. In Slovakia, some media outlets use AI to generate content based on real-time results. For example, AI helped generate hundreds (or even thousands) of articles about the results of elections in each Slovak municipality. Meanwhile, there’s recognition that generative AI, particularly in the form of deep fakes, could negatively impact public trust in elections.
Current state and challenges of AI integration
The adoption of AI in Central European newsrooms presents both opportunities and challenges. Our research among media organisations in Central Europe shows that they are already exploring generative AI tools that can boost their productivity and innovation. AI in media across the region is often used for personalised content delivery to users; speech-to-text conversion; video content creation; social media analysis; text editing and moderation.
The most widespread Polish newsrooms’ AI practices are based on OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Midjourney. Some media outlets in Poland use AI to create new articles and media content, back-end solutions, advertising texts, or meta tag descriptions for SEO. Here are some reasons why AI has been regarded as a tool to support newsroom practices. For instance, respondents from local and regional outlets have argued that:
We use AI tools in every aspect of our publishing processes, starting from news gathering by news production (especially for editing and “revamping” content to creating summaries and headlines under human supervision), as well as news distribution and comments moderation. – Interviewed journalist from Poland
We use AI to collect and process information and distribute content. We also use Canva, which has built-in AI photo editing tools. This is useful when processing archival photos. Interviewed journalist from Poland
Despite the existence of AI tools for content creation, these are not widely used by media in Central Europe, or their use is in an experimental phase. The main problem of large language models, for example, is factual unreliability, and the production of different answers to the same tasks over time. This makes them unsuitable for producing unsupervised content. The other limitation concerning the more widespread use of AI is financial costs, especially for more advanced tasks, such as the creation of the audio format of the article.
Overall, the average percentage of AI usage in the media across Central Europe, according to our research, does not exceed 15%. The use of AI across media in Central Europe mainly involves technical tasks, while more complex operations are still in the hands of journalists and editors.
This is the case especially in small newsrooms that still lack sufficient human and technical capacities for using AI tools in their work more actively. The formation of AI teams in most newsrooms is a new development. The number of media across the region employing AI experts is still very small, which corresponds with the limited knowledge of AI technologies in their newsrooms.
Journalists who have tested various possibilities for the use of AI, point to its limits. AI can save time, automate trivial tasks, and provide a second opinion during the initial drafting of articles. It can be a co-pilot who can assist journalists in their work. However, journalists are sceptical that AI would work without human supervision, due to the high risk of errors which would be damaging to the reputation of professional outlets. Slovakia’s Dennik N focuses on human oversight to demonstrate a responsible approach to AI. This media organisation recognises AI’s potential to enhance efficiency and accuracy, but also ackonwledges the need for human intervention to ensure responsible and ethical use. There is also a call for ‘human touch’ supervision and moderation among Polish media surveyed in our research, with respondents arguing for checks and balances, as well as quality control:
“AI cannot replace humans – because it does not understand the context. And even accurate information, taken out of context or set in a false context, constitutes disinformation.” – a polish journalist
The integration of the AI in newsrooms reflects varying national perspectives, media independence, and political contexts. Czech journalists are overall cautious, stressing the potential for AI to perpetuate disinformation especially in vulnerable political contexts. In Hungary, current AI usage for disinformation remains largely undocumented. Cheapfakes dominate political campaigns in the country. In Hungarian media, the usage of AI tools specifically for content creation are not common either. Among the existing examples Hirstart, a news aggregator, ventured into AI-produced prodcasting as early as May 2020. In contrast, Polish media are progressively embracing AI to enhance journalistic practices and combat disinformation, maintaining a focus on ethical implications. The Slovak media industry is beginning to show interest in AI, concentrating mainly on operational efficiencies such as translation and data processing. This comparative overview illustrates a diverse spectrum of AI adoption within the region. These trends reflect the need for a balance between technological advancements and ethical journalism practices.
Newsrooms in Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia are interested in experimenting with AI in their work. However, they ackowledge that the use of this technology is still in its early stages. Challenges to the application of AI in media refer to various stages of news production, including organisational and financial costs, as well as AI trained professionals. There is a notable difference in the adoption rates between mainstream and independent newsrooms across the region. Smaller newsrooms are struggling to keep up with the development of AI, while the full integration of AI tools has proven to be a challenge even for the larger newsrooms. Meanwhile, government-linked influencers and troll networks coordinate efforts to disseminate false information on social media. While concerns have been raised about using AI for disinformation across the region, it is rather the prevalence of inexpensive fake content that dominates political campaigns.
While AI can increase efficiency in news organisations, media teams fear what effect AI may have on professional journalism.
There is a general concern about the erosion of trust due to the potential mistakes of AI-generated content. Additionally, journalists across the region fear that AI would reinforce negative trends like the proliferation of low-quality, plagiarised content profiting from online advertising.
Polish journalists fear that the development of AI will lead to threats related to unjustified surveillance, disinformation, or manipulation. AI systems, especially advanced ones, could reduce people’s mental independence and affect their mental health. In Poland, some media outlets are actively engaged in combating disinformation through AI tools and fact-checking initiatives. Polish Demagog plays a crucial role in fact-checking and debunking AI-generated content, demonstrating the importance of independent oversight in mitigating the risks of AI-powered disinformation. Their efforts to combat manipulation shed light on the vital role of independent media in upholding democratic principles and ensuring fair elections.
The path forward
Newsrooms must balance innovation with the imperative to uphold journalistic integrity and democratic values. There is a clear awareness among the respondents in our research that AI technology is the future of media and that it will be necessary to intensively develop human and technological capacities to make strides in this field. This ongoing transition offers space for collaboration among newsrooms in the region, especially if they aim for standardising AI practices that align with global journalistic standards.
To counter negative developments, it is necessary to offer training to journalists and media professionals on how to recognize AI-generated disinformation content. By fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation in AI usage practices, newsrooms will enhance resilience against disinformation and safeguard the integrity of their reporting and upholding journalistic standards in the digital age.
Discussions on AI and media across the region include questions related to ethics, transparency, and accountability. Looking ahead, media in Central Europe are at a pivotal moment in their exploration of AI tools. There is a growing emphasis on assessing the cost-effectiveness, deployment potential, and the scope of actions that can support longer-term downstream interventions, particularly in the context of utilising AI solutions in elections. These countries have derived valuable lessons from their experiences with AI in journalism, shaping a path forward for more effective utilisation of AI technologies.
If you want to know more about the benefits of AI for data management, especially for small and independent media outlets, check out our latest research report on “How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Media and Journalism in Central Europe.
Authors: Asya Metodieva, Marius Dragomir
