The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has brought about significant changes, particularly for news and media columnists. As AI continues to advance, traditional roles in the industry, including those of news and media columnists, are facing increasing scrutiny and potential displacement.

Last year The Associated Press struck a deal with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, to obtain licensing for a portion of AP’s text archive and to leverage OpenAI’s technology and expertise.

Shortly after, OpenAI announced a $5 million grant, along with $5 million in software usage credits, to the American Journalism Project, a nonprofit organisation supporting newsrooms.

Meanwhile, Google reportedly began introducing a new software “personal assistant” for journalists, codenamed Genesis, to major news organisations such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.

Genesis claims to synthesise news content from information inputs, a concept that some attendees found disquieting. Various news organisations, including G/O Media which owns Gizmodo, Jezebel, and The Onion, are experimenting with generating blog-style content from scratch. Additionally, many other organisations begun exploring similar initiatives with differing levels of transparency.

In the initial stages of the pandemic, News Corp made the decision to discontinue the print editions of over 100 suburban and regional mastheads.

The media company also implemented the use of AI to aid in the production of hyper-local news stories, covering a range of topics including weather updates, traffic reports, fuel prices, court listings, and obituaries.

The company’s eight-person “data local” team, led by Peter Judd, a veteran of the group, uses programming language Python to help publish hundreds of articles a day.

According to a News Corp spokesperson each word of the several thousand weekly stories is overseen by a human, adding that ChatGPT or other similar technologies aren’t used in the creation of content.

The rise of AI in newsrooms has been fueled by its ability to analyse vast amounts of data, produce content quickly, and even generate narratives autonomously leading to the automation of certain tasks traditionally performed by journalists, including research, data analysis, and even basic reporting.

Last week, Robert Thomson, News Corp’s global CEO, issued a strong cautionary statement regarding the impact of artificial intelligence on journalism, describing its emergence as “epochal.”

Thomson is not alone among media executives grappling with this ethical dilemma, particularly as AI presents a potential solution to the financial challenges stemming from a declining advertising market and stagnant subscriber growth.

During a conference in San Francisco last week, Thomson expressed concerns about the implications of AI usage in newsrooms, highlighting not only the risk of job displacement but also the potential social cost of producing subpar content.

He warned against the possibility of generating low-quality content, stating, “The danger is, it’s rubbish in, rubbish out, and, in this case, rubbish all about,” 

The shift towards automation has also raised concerns about the future of human journalists, particularly those in specialised roles such as columnists.

Columnists, who are valued for their unique perspectives, analytical skills, and ability to provide commentary on current events and issues, are now also finding themselves grappling with the implications of AI on their profession.

One of the primary challenges faced by columnists in the age of AI is the potential for their roles to be marginalised or replaced altogether.

As AI algorithms become more sophisticated, they are increasingly capable of mimicking the style and tone of human writing, making it difficult for readers to distinguish between AI-generated content and that produced by human journalists.

The efficiency and cost-effectiveness of AI-driven content creation have led some news organisations to prioritise automation over human input, further jeopardising the role of columnists in the industry.

News Corp posted strong second-quarter global earnings last week marking a 3% increase compared to the same period last year. The growth follows significant restructuring efforts, including the reduction of 1,250 jobs worldwide, and a heightened reliance on artificial intelligence.

In 2023, it was revealed that News Corp had been utilising AI to produce approximately 3,000 local news stories per week in Australia, often without clear disclosures.

In last week’s Q2 announcement, Thomson said the company was pushing to be a “core” content provider for generative-AI companies, spruiking News’ “advanced negotiations” with AI companies over content access. 

Last year Google also set out to test if AI could write and produce news. However, the tech giant insisted it won’t replace the jobs of journalists.

A Google spokesperson said it was in the “earliest stages of exploring ideas” for how the technology could enhance “work and productivity” in a newsroom.

“Quite simply, these tools are not intended to, and cannot, replace the essential role journalists have in reporting, creating and fact-checking their articles,” the spokesperson added.

Executives from publishing companies who reviewed Google’s proposal expressed discomfort, as reported by The New York Times. The newspaper was the first to disclose Google’s intentions for AI-driven journalism on Wednesday.

According to the report, discussions were held with Google by several US media outlets including The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, as well as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, the conglomerate responsible for publications like The Sun and The Times.