Newsnet #4. The Challenge of Artificial Intelligence for Journalism

The emergence of generative artificial intelligence applications has triggered great interest in all areas of media studies. Its presence seems definitive and, although its rapid evolution makes it difficult to anticipate the way in which it will affect the media, it seems clear that it will transversally affect all its areas, from the production to the distribution of contents. The application of AI is perceived, on the one hand, as an opportunity for the media to reduce production costs that facilitate their viability or as tools that free journalists from more mechanical tasks. But, on the other hand, there is also a perceived risk of increasing the precariousness of journalists' work and reducing the number of jobs. For audiences, having this new technology at hand is accompanied by new opportunities, such as greater personalization of content, but also threats, such as the presence of biases, the increase in existing gaps or an increase in the risk of misinformation.