New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger delivered a keynote at the WAN-IFRA World News Media Congress in Marseille, France on Monday. Titled “AI, Journalism, and the Uncertain Future of the Public Square,” the talk is published in full here.
“Our profession has been too quiet, too passive, and too fragmented in the face of abuses by the companies leading the AI revolution,” Sulzberger said:
Tech giants strip-mine news websites without permission or compensation. They repackage these stolen goods as their own, siphoning off the audiences and revenue that otherwise would go to the news organizations that created this work. And this happens not just once during the training process, but countless times every single day.
As a result, I fear we are careening toward a future with fewer and fewer journalists to do the expensive, difficult work of original reporting — going to places, talking to people, digging up information, covering important issues and events, providing context and analysis, investigating the powerful. A future where a crucial wellspring of a healthy society and a stable democracy — the truth, understanding and accountability provided by original journalism — continues to dry up.
Sulzberger also offered some advice on ways news organizations can make themselves more resilient to AI:
Use AI the right way. Newsrooms should create thoughtful standards for the responsible use of AI. Then they should be aggressive and creative in putting the technology to work to improve their journalism and strengthen their businesses. A.I. can bring real value to organizations that find the right ways to embrace it, and a shift of this size will lay waste to any organization that refuses to evolve. There’s nothing inherently bad about AI technology — it’s the actions of the companies behind it that need reforming.
Be a destination first. A world increasingly intermediated by AI platforms would leave news organizations even more at the mercy of tech giants to share traffic, credit, and money. The clearest path to support quality reporting will be through direct relationships with audiences. Being a destination doesn’t mean ignoring the broader internet. You still must make new relationships where people are, which is usually a tech platform. But to deepen those relationships — to make them loyal, habituated and valuable — your audience must learn it’s better to engage with you directly rather than through someone else.
Focus on original reporting. Many news organizations undermined and commoditized themselves trying to feed the constantly shifting preferences of search and social algorithms with clickbait, aggregation and hot takes. The economics of that approach will get even worse. To be a destination in a world intermediated by AI, you’ll need journalism so distinctive it has its own gravity. The heart of that is original reporting. The public has no other source for this work. Neither does AI.
Explain why journalism matters. AI companies have giant megaphones and have studiously and selectively communicated the benefits of their work while also downplaying the harms. The news industry must, in turn, make the case that original reporting is an essential ingredient in healthy societies, secure nations and strong democracies — and show how the actions of the tech giants are putting it at risk.
You can read the full keynote here.
