![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Beckett1-1024x683.jpeg\")
He specializes in changes in journalism around the world and their relationship to society and politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beckett is leading the Polis JournalismAI project, which is supported by the Google News Initiative, and was the Lead Commissioner for the LSE Truth, Trust & Technology Commission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
JournalismAI seeks to make AI\u2019s potential more accessible and to address inequalities in news media related to AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JournalismAI published a global report in 2019 surveying 71 news organizations in 32 different countries about their use and understanding of AI. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report established that AI was already a significant player in the journalism industry but had also heightened editorial and ethical responsibilities for newsrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A follow-up report was published in 2023 surveying 105 news organizations in 46 different countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report determined the biggest difference in newsrooms\u2019 use of AI was in their news distribution, as 80 per cent of surveyed newsrooms used AI to share content with their audiences in 2023, a 30-per-cent leap from 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In April, Beckett participated in two journalism and AI panels at the International Journalism Festival conference in Italy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He explained that LSE has worked with thousands of journalists on training courses and case studies to better understand AI and how to seize the opportunities it presents for newsrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think one of the big dangers (of AI) is that you get too worried about (the risks) and you don\u2019t seize the opportunities,\u201d Beckett said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cAI does not create deepfakes, humans do,\u201d Beckett said. \u201cAll disinformation is human-decided. They decide to make fakes or propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2014 Charlie Beckett, director of JournalismAI project at Polis<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Acknowledging the harmful uses of AI, including deepfakes, Beckett reminded the audience that \u201call disinformation is human-decided\u201d and has nothing to do with AI. He said human manipulation is \u201cat least as worrying\u201d as AI technology. He views AI as a tool, not the source, of its outputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAI does not create deepfakes, humans do,\u201d Beckett said. \u201cAll disinformation is human-decided. They decide to make fakes or propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conversely, he noted the potential for increased efficiency and new tools to counter propaganda and disinformation in newsrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAI can potentially be a part of every aspect of news gathering, news production, and of course, critically, in news distribution,\u201d Beckett said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beckett also stressed the importance of newsrooms collaborating with one another and outside the industry to better understand the technology\u2019s risks and opportunities. He explained that newsrooms, which employ fewer people than ever, are smaller than many tech companies and need their help to fully comprehend and responsibly harness AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the most interesting developments from AI has been the degree to which newsrooms are talking to each other,\u201d Beckett said. \u201cThey\u2019re talking to universities, they\u2019re talking to startups, they\u2019re trying to talk to the tech companies as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need to learn from each other.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Roundtable keynote speaker Charlie Beckett is the founding director of Polis, the U.K. think tank for research and debate around international journalism and society in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Beckett is also the author of SuperMedia: Saving Journalism So It Can Save The … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":682,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282\/revisions\/682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/journalism-and-AI\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}