UK journalists have developed a dependency on the very technology they believe threatens their existence, with more than half now using artificial intelligence weekly despite viewing it as a major danger to the profession.
A report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that while 62 per cent of reporters see AI as a “large or very large threat”, only 16 per cent entirely avoid using it.
The study of 1,004 journalists revealed that 56 per cent now use AI professionally at least once a week, with 27 per cent relying on it daily.
“There have already been several studies on how journalists use artificial intelligence, but many of those studies interviewed relatively small samples of news workers so they can’t generalise about AI use more broadly,” said lead author Neil Thurman. “So, we decided to survey a representative sample of journalists — in the UK.”
Core reporting duties
While the technology is primarily used for language processing tasks like transcription (49 per cent), translation (33 per cent) and copy-editing (30 per cent), it is rapidly encroaching on core reporting duties.
More than one in five journalists now use AI for “story research” at least monthly, while 16 per cent use it for idea generation.
However, the promise that AI would liberate reporters from administrative grunt work appears to have backfired. The study found that frequent AI users are actually more likely to feel they spend too much time on low-level tasks compared to their non-using peers.
“Those using AI more often are more likely to believe they work on low-level tasks too frequently and are not more satisfied with the amount of time they work on complex and creative tasks,” said Thurman.
The authors suggest this dissatisfaction may stem from the fact that AI use creates new types of administrative labour, such as cleaning data, engineering prompts, and fact-checking algorithmic output.
Growing divide
The report highlights a growing divide in how newsrooms are adapting to the shift. While 60 per cent of journalists say AI has been integrated into their newsroom to some extent, this integration is overwhelmingly described as “limited”.
Resources play a crucial role in this transition. Journalists working for media conglomerates are significantly more likely to receive AI training (50 per cent) compared to those at independent outlets (14 per cent).
Furthermore, while 57 per cent of outlets rely solely on third-party tools, conglomerates are more likely to have the resources to develop bespoke in-house solutions.
“Journalists working for independent newsrooms report lower levels of AI integration, higher reliance on third-party AI tools, and expect less future AI integration than journalists working for conglomerates,” Thurman noted.
Uneven distribution
Usage is not evenly distributed across the workforce. The study found AI adoption is more prevalent among younger journalists, men, and those with higher levels of management responsibility.
Business journalists are also significantly heavier users, with 43 per cent using AI weekly compared to just 21 per cent of lifestyle reporters.
Despite the high uptake, ethical concerns remain acute. More than half of respondents expressed extreme concern about the impact of AI on public trust (60 per cent), accuracy (57 per cent), and the originality of content (54 per cent).
“Those that use AI daily for journalistic tasks are as likely to see AI as a large opportunity (45% do so) as a large threat (48%) — one of the few groups in the data to not have an overwhelmingly pessimistic view,” the report noted.
