AI isn’t just tweaking journalism - it’s rewriting the script.

On the face of it, the challenges confronting journalism in an age of AI are daunting.  From Chat GPT, Claude and Copilot, to Google’s AI search mode that launched this month, AI agents are bypassing publications’ longstanding monetisation models.  Traffic, subscriptions and ad revenue are all at risk. 

Pressure to fight or adapt to change is not falling evenly on the industry.  We’re hearing a vocal response from many heavyweight publishers, including the Financial Times and Reuters – with larger publishers pushing for fair licensing when their content is being used to ‘train’ AI systems. By comparison smaller outlets, with fewer resources, risk falling behind.

Yet despite the sense of jeopardy, there are signs of optimism.  AI friction is driving the discipline forward.  In fact, can we argue that innovation in journalism is back?

The threat might feel existential, but we should remember that we have been here before.  Throughout the 2010s, journalism adjusted to the shift from print to pixels and with the surge of social media.  While there were casualties, the industry has settled into comfortable and familiar routines in this digital age. 

AI has the same potential to jolt journalism into evolution.  Journalists are now using AI large language models to handle research and bureaucratic tasks, freeing up time for deeper investigation and richer analysis.  Outlets like BBC and The Times are tailoring content to individual readers, while The Telegraph uses AI-generated images to support opinion pieces. Respected trade publications are seeing the opportunity to escape the grind of publishing four or five news stories each half day by delegating some of that work to AI tools – giving editorial teams time to do the hard yards of chasing down stories and taking a broader view of the issues at play. 

These efforts are reaffirming the role of the journalist as an independent witness on industry trends, and as influential authorities on their beat.  In a media landscape awash with content, readers are actively seeking trustworthy sources.  Journalism can shine against this backdrop - conducting interviews, spending time in communities, and digging deeper into the stories that matter. 

Ultimately, journalism’s inherent strengths are very human ones.  Adaptability, instinct, critical thinking and empathy are not easily replicated by technology, and issues of trust abound where this is attempted. Publications ultimately have choices to make about how they engage with change and where they find their niche, but in a new editorial age it is not all doom and gloom.   AI can be seen as an ‘intelligent friend’ – a tool for journalism, not a replacement for journalists.