How AI may be able to improve journalism when it comes to reporting on Catholicism...

Michie

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One of the things I enjoy about the summer is catching up with people I haven’t seen all year to discuss news, politics and culture. Since so many of my friends are in the news business, inevitably the state of the mass media comes up as a topic.

The one constant subject that has arisen from these conversations is the rise (and potential threat) of artificial intelligence. Specifically, the topic of how AI can (and will) replace humans who report and write for a living.

While machines have yet to replace all writers, the threat is real. This isn’t just limited to journalists. AI has impacted Hollywood (look at the current writers strike), education (from grade school to college) and the retail industry. And yes, journalism is up there to when it comes to an industry seen as under threat, according to a poll conducted earlier this year.

AI a either a new technological monster or a friend to journalists. The industry is divided by the issue. Like the internet back in the 1990s, AI is both astonishing and perplexing.

How has AI and machine learning impacted journalism? Can it make it better or worse? These are just two valid questions people in newsrooms are asking. The question here at GetReligion is how AI could affect religion-beat work and, in this case, the state of Catholic news and publications.

For starters, consider that there will be 10 new AP Stylebook entries to caution journalists about common pitfalls in coverage of artificial intelligence. Here’s what the Associated Press said:

Continued below.
 

Stephen3141

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The "10 New AP Stylebook entries" do not really deal with the nature of AI tools. They affirm that
unverified content -- such as the new AI tools often put out -- should not be used as if it
were verified or true.

AI, from the standpoint of Computer Science (which developed the discipline), should be
described as having quite different potential abilities, and unsolved problems.

The problem with the new "AI tools" is that they are still in the same category as the
conspiracy theory advocates. They

-- cannot argue the primitive ideas of philosophy
-- they have trouble differentiating between the common occurrence of an opinion,
and the truth of an opinion
-- they have little idea (along with the younger American generations) how to JUSTIFY
a personal opinion, to move it into the category of a fact.

Unfortunately, many human journalists have little idea how to verify facts, versus
finding statistics on opinions.

What the AI tools cannot add to the mix, many of the younger journalists have
ALREADY LOST THE ABILITY TO DO.
 
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