Use of AI in Journalism: Merits and Demerits-By Kumar Bahukhandi

An image showing a journalist working at a laptop in a newsroom, with a subtle AI interface on the screen.

Artificial intelligence is changing how journalists gather information, analyse documents, translate material and prepare news reports. It can reduce routine work and help newsrooms examine information on a larger scale. At the same time, it raises concerns about accuracy, bias, employment, privacy and public trust.

A useful distinction is between AI that performs a defined task, such as transcribing an interview, and generative AI that produces new text, images or audio. Both require checking, but generated material creates particular risks because it can appear convincing even when it is incorrect.

Merits of AI in Journalism

1. Faster handling of routine work

AI can assist with transcription, summaries, headline suggestions and the organisation of background material. This can give journalists more time for interviews, field reporting and verification.

However, names, figures and quotations in an automated transcript still need to be checked against the recording.

2. Analysis of large volumes of information

AI tools can help journalists search lengthy reports, organise public records and identify patterns in datasets. These capabilities can support investigations into public spending, business activity or environmental issues.

A pattern identified by AI is a starting point for reporting; it does not, by itself, establish wrongdoing.

3. Translation and multilingual reporting

AI can help newsrooms translate reports and prepare content for readers in different languages. This is particularly useful in a multilingual country such as India.

Human review remains essential because literal translations can distort cultural references, technical terms and the intended meaning of a statement.

4. Greater accessibility

AI-assisted captions, transcripts and text-to-speech tools can make journalism more accessible to people with hearing or visual impairments. They can also help audiences consume information in different formats.

5. Support for verification

AI can assist in comparing documents, locating inconsistencies and flagging material that deserves closer examination. It may help journalists identify suspicious images or claims.

Such tools support verification; their findings should not be treated as conclusive evidence.

6. Assistance for smaller newsrooms

Smaller publications can use AI to support editing, formatting, translation and other repetitive tasks. Used carefully, it can expand their production capacity.

The benefits depend on the cost of the tools, staff training and the time required to check the output.

Demerits of AI in Journalism

1. Fabricated facts and quotations

Generative AI can invent names, dates, references, events and quotations. Its confident language can make these errors difficult to notice.

Publishing an invented quotation is especially serious because it falsely attributes words to a person and undermines the credibility of the publication.

2. Bias and unfair representation

AI systems can reproduce biases present in their training material or in the instructions given to them. This may affect how communities, political positions, genders or social groups are represented.

Uncritical use can reinforce stereotypes and overlook voices already underrepresented in the media.

3. Weak understanding of local context

Journalism requires sensitivity to history, language, community relationships and social circumstances. AI may miss the significance of a regional expression, a local dispute or an apparently minor detail.

These limitations matter particularly in reporting on communal tensions, marginalised communities and sensitive personal experiences.

4. Privacy and source confidentiality

Entering unpublished interviews, personal information or confidential documents into an AI service can create risks for sources and reporting projects.

Newsrooms need to understand how a tool stores and uses information before sharing sensitive material with it.

5. Manipulated images, audio and video

AI-generated media can depict events that never happened or make people appear to say things they never said. Such material can spread misinformation and make authentic evidence harder for audiences to trust.

News photographs and recordings must retain their evidentiary value. Any illustrative or synthetic material should be clearly identified.

6. Pressure on jobs and professional skills

Automation can create pressure to reduce newsroom staffing or increase output without sufficient editorial support. Excessive dependence may also weaken writing, research and verification skills.

Journalists need opportunities to develop their judgement alongside learning new tools.

7. Copyright and attribution concerns

AI output may closely resemble existing work or obscure where information originated. Using it without checking sources can create problems involving originality, attribution and intellectual property.

A rewritten report still requires proper credit for the reporting on which it depends.

8. Loss of public trust

Audiences may lose confidence when a publication conceals substantial AI involvement, publishes unchecked material or replaces original reporting with generic content.

The editor and publisher remain responsible for what appears under their publication’s name.

A Responsible Approach

Newsrooms should use AI with a clear purpose and an accountable human editor. Facts, quotations and references must be verified; confidential sources must be protected; and significant uses of generated content should be explained to audiences.

AI can assist journalists in working faster and examining more information. The responsibility to establish what happened, represent people fairly and serve the public remains with journalists.