This month CNET, a leading American news outlet covering stories around technology, was caught publishing 70 AI-generated articles since November 2022 with the byline "CNET Money Staff.” Recently, the world has seen the rise of artificial intelligence in information system and the disruption it has caused.     

Open AI, an American artificial intelligence research firm based in San Francisco unveiled a beta version of its chat-bot called "Chat GPT" on November 30, 2022. This AI chatbot can read a wide collection of data quickly and learn linguistic models so that it can converse with humans and respond to their questions and comments in natural language. According to CNBC, "Chat GPT" immediately went viral in January and is now used for everything from simple conversations to complex text simplification. This has made clerical work more redundant and reduced the need for research based work.

Buzzfeed is just one of several prominent news outlets that has recently announced 12 percent layoffs and the adoption of “Chat GPT” to generate content. In a company statement issued on January 26, 2023, Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti declared plans to adopt the AI-bot. His stated goal was to “enhance the quiz experience… and personalize [our] content for [our] audience." Consequently, journalists in Qatar have also been impacted by the rise of AI and this occurrence might dictate journalistic practices of the nation.

Qatar is emerging as a promising hub for journalism, and following the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the nation has experienced a modest yet notable expansion in media freedoms. This can be seen with many international news outlets like Euro News and human rights organizations like the UN establishing their offices in Doha as part of the Middle Eastern wing. Data journalist and Assistant Professor in residence at Northwestern University in Qatar, Eddy Borges-Rey is optimistic about the potential of artificial intelligence in the Qatari media. Borges has conducted extensive research on the use of AI in journalism and according to him, AI technology can be particularly effective in terms of formulaic reporting such as “financial reporting, real estate, and some aspects of sports which have scores, averages and other forms of statistics.”

During the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Al Jazeera News Network, a renowned global media outlet headquartered in Doha, introduced an AI-powered robot named “Kashef” to deliver sports predictions. This application of technology emphasizes the increasing incorporation of advanced data tools in sports journalism. Al Jazeera reports that Kashef used past performance and score data to accurately predict future outcomes; it was able to predict the outcome of 67 percent of matches precisely. Similarly, the network's Arab newsroom employs an AI bot named Sanad for fact-checking and source verification on social media. Saad Abedine, who is a news editor at Al Jazeera Media Network said that his newsroom uses an AI platform known as “Dataminr.” This is an AI software that flags social media activity to create breaking news. “AI will function with us side by side, but it will not replace an entire newsroom. It is fine for us to use it more to filter the garbage online,” said Abedine. According to Abedine, the software can sometimes flag misleading information which is why he does not use it personally.

Considering the rise of AI and the recent layoffs of journalists at global news outlets, what will the future hold for journalism students in Qatar? Northwestern University in Qatar's journalism major Hasena Yahya believes that AI would not significantly affect her future career as a broadcast journalist. "Certain elements of journalism," she said, "I don't see being phased out.” She stated that certain aspects of journalism are far too advanced for AI to replicate just yet.

For other journalism students, AI does pose a threat to the practice of journalism. Abdullah Imran Tahir is a journalism senior at Northwestern University in Qatar who believes that journalists would no longer be needed to filter through large amounts of data. “It [AI] poses a threat to journalists who don’t want to adapt themselves and who don’t want to learn new tools,” he said. According to Tahir, AI bots like “Chat GPT” are tools for journalists and like any disruptive tool, it should also be utilized upon the users’ discretion to elevate their work.

Many are also skeptical about the rise of AI as it suggests risking the loss of the human element from journalistic practices. Skeptics believe that a journalist’s job is to connect with audiences and have a recognizable voice. The use of AI prevents that. Abedine said, “AI is a helper… it does not help in fact-checking. I do not like how people treat it as a gospel.” He said AI is not going to replace newsrooms completely as stories will need to go through editors for fact-checking purposes. Yahya also stresses the importance of the human element of journalism because in her opinion AI cannot connect with human emotions, and therefore it will not be able to completely replace journalists. Similarly, Borges said, “Objectivity is not as important as your ability to articulate a compelling argument, and that’s where AI falls short.”

Artificial intelligence will continue being a point of contention between journalists. Some journalists may even fabricate their own stories from already published ones. At the end, it falls down to keeping the integrity and the human element of journalism intact. With shorter attention spans and greater exposure to information in today’s fast paced world, journalists are driven to become more and more creative than artificial intelligence

By Syeda Kisaa Zehra