As newsrooms rush to adopt generative artificial intelligence policies and experiment with new products, the public was noticeably absent of the conversation.
That’s why Poynter teamed up with the University of Minnesota to gauge what news consumers really think about the new technology. Panel discussions this week will inform the Poynter Summit on AI, Ethics and Journalism, which will bring together journalists, editors and technologists to strengthen Poynter’s AI Ethical Framework and think about new products.
“News organizations are naturally hesitant to fall behind and be slow to adopt innovation,” said Ben Toff, associate professor and director of the Minnesota Journalism Center, who is leading the research. “But with public trust in media as polarized and fragile as it already is, it is essential to take the time to understand how the public perceives these rapidly evolving technologies and what level of disclosure and transparency it requires. may or may not expect to see journalists employ them as they use these tools more and more.
“By giving representative groups of ordinary people a space to think about and discuss these issues in detail, we hope that our research can illuminate the contours of the public’s complex and rapidly changing attitudes on this topic in a way that surveys are not particularly suitable. capture,” Toff said.
News executives at the Washington Post, the Associated Press, Gannett, McClatchy and Hearst, as well as many smaller organizations such as the Pulitzer Prize-winning Invisible Institute, the Bradenton Herald, the Vermont Public, Houston Landing and others have first access to focus group data. at the summit by invitation only. After an ethics program featuring Poynter professors, Hacks/Hackers will host a hackathon to help participating newsrooms imagine AI products focused on public trust and ethics.
Nikita Roy, Knight Fellow at the International Center for Journalists and head of the AI Journalism Lab program at CUNY’s Craig Newmark School of Journalism, and Phoebe Connelly, Washington Post editor for AI strategy and innovation , will kick off the programming with an overview of the AI/news landscape. And Jay Dixit, head of the OpenAI writing community, will participate in a fireside chat during the summit. Toff, Joy Mayer, director of Trusting News, and Joe Amditis, deputy director of products and events at the Center for Cooperative Media, will contribute to discussions on ethics, trust and best practices for AI in theaters writing.
Earlier this year, Poynter created A model to help small newsrooms develop their own AI ethics policies. We will update this model with what we learned at the summit and release a research brief this summer summarizing conversations and products for newsrooms of all sizes interested in experimenting with generative AI.
“We run into a lot of fear and reluctance when we try to encourage journalists in mid-sized markets to experiment with AI, and that’s a problem because the needs of newsrooms and news consumers on local markets will be very different from local markets. great newsrooms,” said Kelly McBride, Poynter’s senior vice president, who also chairs the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership and is NPR’s public editor. “We are holding this gathering to ensure local journalists are part of the process as we think about how to integrate AI into our work.”
