Age of AI: What Pakistani media needs to do?
Technology
There are different views about how AI is changing the landscape in many industries
By Turyal Azam Khan
A pessimistic perception of artificial intelligence or AI is that it will take over jobs. How true can this statement be?
There are different schools of thought about how AI is changing the landscape in many industries. The school of thought that I align with is that AI, like any technology that came before it, can be used for both good and bad purposes.
AI will replace certain jobs but it is also important for humans to stay relevant in the age of AI by trying to understand the basics as well as technicalities. Whether you have a technical or a non-technical background, one needs to realise that AI is here to stay.
Print, broadcast, digital, AI
We have seen the transition of journalism in Pakistan from print media to broadcast media and then digital media. AI integration in Pakistan’s journalism space is still in its early stages.
During the 2000s, when broadcast media (radio and television) was liberalised, a lot of journalists from Pakistan’s print media space moved to broadcast media.
Then digital media or online media started to pick up pace during the 2010s. A lot of prominent broadcast media veterans ventured into the digital media space.
Many other prominent news television channels went online with a heavy social media presence and posting videos on YouTube including posting content exclusive to the digital/online media space.
Many Pakistani journalists launched their own YouTube channels which was independent of the media organisations they worked for.
The transition from print to broadcast media and then to online media portrays how journalists moved onto new technologies to stay relevant in a rapidly changing environment. AI is in its early stages in Pakistan’s journalism space. The question is how will Pakistani journalism move into the era of AI?
Certain television channels have launched AI news anchors as an attempt to experiment. There is also limited literature done on the link with AI and Pakistani journalism.
According to a paper published in the Journal of Peace, Development and Communication titled AI and the future of Journalism: perception of Pakistani journalists on the opportunities and limitations of ChatGPT by Rabeela Ahmed published in 2024, AI has the potential to revolutionise journalism in Pakistan, however journalists are concerned about its future ramifications and current limitations.
Although the paper recommends training programmes being provided by media organisation and academic institutions regarding ChatGPT and its use in journalism, it should not be just limited to ChatGPT but the overall use of AI in journalism.
The paper also rightfully suggests the importance of ethical guidance concerning the use of AI with regards to accountability, bias and transparency.
According to another paper published in the same journal by Zameer Ahmed and Masqood Ahmad Shaheen, “Journalists and media outlets should adopt and embrace this technology as a transformative change in the digital world of the twenty-first century to improve journalism activities and operations.’’
Integrating AI in Pakistan’s journalism landscape
The first step to integrate AI in Pakistan’s journalism space is by talking about it. Globally, there are newsletters and blogs dedicated to AI such as The AI Report, TLDR AI and The Rundown AI.
Many global technological news websites such as TechCrunch, The Verge and Wired cover AI. Many global news websites such as Financial Times, The Guardian and The New York Times cover AI as well.
While news organisations in Pakistan do cover AI, their coverage is very limited and broad and this coverage is both common in technological websites and general news outlets.
Pakistani media outlets have to focus more on AI coverage by incorporating a separate section for AI-related news and talk about advancements both in Pakistan and globally.
There is also a need for AI specific websites, blogs and newsletters and while it can be argued that it is a niche field, someone has to take the first step.
Financial news is also dedicated to a niche audience in Pakistan however, there are successful examples of news outlets that report on financial news as their primary domain.
The second step is a comprehensive understanding of AI, encompassing both its technical aspects and its profound ethical implications. While training on the basics of AI, as suggested by a paper cited earlier in this article, is essential it must be coupled with in-depth exploration of the ethical dilemmas AI presents.
These include the risk of algorithmic bias perpetuating societal inequalities, the need for transparency in how AI is used to generate or analyse information, and the complex question of accountability when AI systems make errors or produce harmful content.
For instance, how do we ensure fairness and avoid bias in AI-powered news recommendation systems? How do we maintain transparency when AI is used to automate content creation? And who is responsible when AI-generated content spreads misinformation? These are just some of the ethical questions that Pakistani journalists must grapple with before widespread AI integration can be considered.
The third step is to look at case studies from other countries regarding how journalism is linked with AI. A journalist in the Philippines, Jaemark Tordecilla created COA Beat Assistant, a tool that helps investigative journalists deal with audit reports.
Spanish media group PRISA Media created Verificaudio, a Spanish AI tool to verify audios and detect audio deepfakes. The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is a good resource when it comes to understanding the link between journalism and AI and how journalists in many countries are experimenting with AI.
These case studies and examples are crucial in educating and inspiring Pakistani media outlets and journalists to come up with AI tools to help with journalistic tasks and encourage journalists in other countries to use them as well.
The fourth step is to use AI tools in the Pakistani journalism landscape obviously taking ethical guidelines into consideration. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the oldest organisation representing journalists in the United States, has a website called Journalists toolbox, where they provide information on tools including AI tools that help journalists with their work.
Google and Microsoft also offer tools relevant to journalists. Google News Initiative has tools that can equip journalists with the tools necessary to stay in today’s day and age.
PinPoint is a tool from Google that helps journalists in revealing large information that is buried in PDFs, images, audio recordings, emails, etc.
Fact Check Tools is another tool from Google that helps journalists check if certain information is true or false. Microsoft’s Copilot is another useful tool that can be used side by side with Microsoft Office Suite and can find relevant information in Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook and also has the ability to make presentations.
There are more tools available too. Scroll.ai is one example. It is an AI transcription service which has the ability to transcribe two hours of audio in less than a minute, supports more than 100 languages and works great with accents too.
Another notable mention here is Rolli , that uses AI technology to help journalists to connect with experts and reliable news sources for faster news gathering especially when on a deadline.
The fifth and final step is for Pakistani media outlets and journalists to take inspiration from the case studies and tools mentioned above to create AI tools of their own to help Pakistani journalists as well as global journalists.
AI tools can be created and train in the local languages and local contexts to make the work of Pakistani journalists easier.
AI is revolutionising the global journalism landscape and by taking the suggestions into consideration, the Pakistani journalism sector should not be left behind. Integrating AI in Pakistan’s journalism landscape is the need of the hour.
