As generative AI tools grow in popularity with each and every usage, and continue to advance in performance every day, there is a major question looming on the horizon. Will AI replace humans in the workforce and in the job market? It’s a scary idea to think about; with an already difficult job market in the world, imagine if most of those jobs were then snatched up and removed, or worse, people are replaced by AI tools. One of the most questioned fields when it comes to whether AI will replace them is journalism.
Journalism is a field that is already dying and wilting away as time passes, and many of the major entry-level tasks that journalists may do are easily replaceable by AI. A major task that AI can do much better than the average journalist is researching; AI researches faster than it would take the rudimentary Journalist. They can write about weather and sports quicker than beat writers and journalists can as well. And even for non-writers in the field, AI can organize and format information quicker than an assistant or anyone like that could as well.
Yet with all this speed AI can use to work, it lacks so much of what journalism truly holds. The biggest of them all is connection. Generative AI can’t replicate ethics or human connection in any way. AI can’t humanize or bond face to face with someone. On top of the emotional appeal the AI is unable to replicate, AI doesn’t fact-check or verify itself, unlike a real journalist would. Nor can AI perform important tasks like press conferences or conduct its own interviews.
So, while generative AI tools are growing in popularity each passing day and have crept their way into several different job markets. AI for now may be able to do the simple task of journalism, but when it comes to the purpose and aspects of the field that make journalism truly special and meaningful, AI doesn’t stand a chance.
