KUCHING: Journalists and media practitioners should be less concerned about artificial intelligence (AI) using their data or content, says Professor Charlie Beckett.
The director of Polis and the Polls, Department of Media and Communication from the London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom further stated that journalists should be more focused on what sets them apart in news reporting.
“It is really important to think about what journalists can do, and the real value that we bring.
“It is also about your judgement, ethics, policy and integrity and that is why the public often quote us instead of relying most of the time on AI.”
Beckett said this during the ‘AI For Good: How AI can help Journalism and Media. Real Life Examples of AI Application in Journalism’ talk on the second day of the Sarawak Media Conference (SMEc) at Riverside Majestic Hotel here on Monday (May 27).
He pointed out that it is challenging to claim exclusive rights over news content.
“When something happens in the world, for instance, just because we report it, it does not mean the data solely belongs to us.
“Like I mentioned before, it is crucial for us as journalists to think about our value when it comes to reporting stories and why people often refer to us or approach us for the latest news.”
Beckett observed that people generally prefer to seek information from living sources, such as journalists, rather than from inanimate technologies.
He also addressed the issue of news organisations’ rights concerning large language models (LLMs) scraping their content.
Beckett noted that many news organisations have blocked such technologies from using their data, except when they choose to collaborate with tech companies specialising in LLMs.
“The thing is thousands of news organisations have done that, and it would be an exception if they would be collaborating with tech company specialising in LLM, which allows them to use our data.
“And I believe that is the choice they would make at the end of the day.”
