Artificial Intelligence in Journalism: Older Resources

Materials Archived July 2025

Notable studies

Uneasy bedfellows: AI in the news, platform companies and the issue of journalistic autonomy

Digital Journalism – 2022

Summary: This paper provides an overview of AI’s rise in the news, considers how these changes risk shifting more control to and dependence on platform companies and proposes a research agenda for better understanding the role of platform companies in AI in the news.

CNTI’s Takeaway: This proposed research agenda depicts how we need a more systematic understanding of the actors involved in AI tools and services used in the news as well as their intended uses so we can assess what kind of regulatory or policy interventions would protect the news industry from overdependence on platform companies.

Robojournalism: A copyright study on the use of artificial intelligence in the European news industry

GRUR International – 2022

Summary: These legal scholars focus on issues surrounding copyright protections for AI-generated outputs, with a focus on “robojournalism” in Europe.

CNTI’s Takeaway: This paper argues that the extent to which journalism in Europe has relied on generative AI to produce content may not justify changes to the current copyright system. There are some useful considerations, but CNTI believes this argument may already be outdated and short-sighted from a policy perspective, considering the speed of technological innovation in this area. This speaks to the importance of ongoing research in this space.

Imagination, algorithms and news: Developing AI literacy for journalism

Digital Journalism – 2022

Summary: These experts outline three key components of AI literacy and argue for the importance of closing the AI knowledge deficit within the news industry.

CNTI’s Takeaway: This offers a clear and useful overview of the various roles of AI in journalism and the forms of AI literacy that journalists should develop.

Artificial intelligence and journalism: An agenda for journalism research in Africa

African Journalism Studies – 2022

Summary: This paper summarizes the state of AI use in newsrooms in African countries and proposes ideas for future research in this area as well as recommendations for addressing methodological challenges.

CNTI’s Takeaway: Further research should examine two key areas: 1) the actual application of AI in African newsrooms (or lack thereof), including how AI technologies and algorithms developed in the Global North have been integrated into Global South newsrooms and how this changes the news production process and 2) the role government agencies will have in the oversight of automated journalism.

AI ≥ journalism: How the Chinese copyright law protects tech giants’ AI innovations and disrupts the journalistic institution

Digital Journalism – 2022

Summary: This case study evaluates the impact of China’s copyright law on artificial intelligence innovation in Chinese newsrooms.

CNTI’s Takeaway: More work is needed on copyright law and AI policymaking in journalism amid the rise of automated news, algorithmic distribution and digital content ownership.

Transparency in artificial intelligence

Internet Policy Review – 2020

Summary: This work explores what “transparency” means in the context of AI, including its role in AI regulatory development, organizational policies and ethical guidelines.

CNTI’s Takeaway: “AI transparency” is a more useful concept than “algorithmic transparency” because it focuses on the system rather than on specific algorithms or components.

New powers, new responsibilities. A global survey of journalism and artificial intelligence

London School of Economics – 2019

Summary: This survey research on AI technologies in 71 news publishers across 32 countries shows that by 2019 AI was a significant – but unevenly distributed – part of the journalism process and introduces new editorial and ethical responsibilities.

CNTI’s Takeaway: This work provides a critical baseline understanding of AI use in newsrooms around the world and proposes key elements of AI strategy, ethics, editorial policy and journalist education for newsrooms and policymakers to draw from.