German Journalists Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism

The next speaker in this ICA 2024 conference session is Victoria Ertelthalner-Nikolaev; she notes that AI remains seen in a number of different ways by journalists, and attracts both positive and negative perceptions: it is seen as a valuable new tool, but also as something that could replace some journalistic jobs, and might affect the quality of journalistic converage. This is also affected by broader perceptions of AI in society, of course.

The present study examined these attitudes amongst journalists, to evaluate their sociology-technical imaginaries for these new technologies. Such imaginaries are often dichotomous, and the choice between positive and negative perceptions might be driven by differing levels of AI knowledge in the first place. The study also examined what journalists thought other journalists might think about AI.

This was done through a survey of 44 journalists in German-speaking countries from June to August 2023, combined with 39 in-depth interviews. It found that there are dominant positive imaginaries that see AI as supporting tools; however, specific risks and the potential for job losses are also perceived. Tensions also arise from journalists comparing their own job performance and speed with the performance and speed of AI.

An obsolescence framing also emerged: concerns about economic logics and other pessimistic views contrast here with the sense that journalism might enter into a new era through its use of AI.

Overall, respondents to the survey were more likely to agree with positive statements about AI, compared to more negative perceptions. Journalists with higher awareness rated the usefulness of AI tools more highly that those with lower awareness; they also had a higher perception that their work will be strongly affected in future.

There are strong to moderate differences between journalists’ own perceptions and their understanding of the perceptions of others; this indicates an optimistic bias where, for instance, journalists believe that other journalists believe that AI will result in job loss, but do not necessarily believe so themselves. They believe that others fear these technologies more than they do.