Exploring the role of artificial intelligence in modern investigative journalism
Industry experts shed light on the intersection of journalism and AI at the African Investigative Journalism Conference.
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are changing the media landscape in ways both positive and troubling. This topic was rightly at the centre of discussions at the 2023 African Investigative Journalism Conference (AIJC), at which speakers shared insights, opportunities, and apprehensions about the breakthrough technology.
Although AI’s potential misuse in activities like synthetic media manipulation, deceit and propagation of hate speech is frequently discussed, new perspectives of its application in journalism were brought to the table.
In her keynote speech, ‘Making it through the Generative AI summer’, Athandiwe Saba, managing editor at Code for Africa’s (CfA) iLAB emphasised the role of AI in newsrooms. ‘It’s time we consider leveraging AI in an African context for groundbreaking innovations and research. A joint effort across sectors is needed to bolster African AI.’
In an age of digitalisation, investigative journalists often struggle with analysing extensive digital records. The Panama Papers, for example, contained a staggering 11.5 million financial and legal records; the Pandora papers had 11.9 million records.
Having to peruse such a huge dataset manually takes a lot of time and investigators might miss some of the core connections between entities due to the workload.
‘Investigations of the magnitude of the Panama Papers require immense effort. AI tools and large language modelling systems can handle such tasks, especially in the African context where newsrooms don’t have enough resources,’ Saba added.
Beyond simply managing data, AI can streamline the process of storytelling, laying the foundation for journalists to focus on complex tasks like gathering evidence and reaching out to sources. As Adi Eyal, data investigations lead at The Sentry, aptly put it, ‘AI lays the groundwork for the house, freeing you to concentrate on the design.’ Eyal and Chris Roper, deputy CEO at Code for Africa, presented a session on ‘Feeding the robots: How to write AI prompts for using Generative AI in investigations.’
AI tools have other practical applications, such as helping investigators easily compile timelines, evidence dossiers and other actionable insights through natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning. Consider, for example, the free-to-use ConnectedAfrica platform, which transforms investigative documents, emails, and multimedia files into machine-readable datasets for advanced analysis. Not only does it provide secure storage for primary evidence, but it also analyses the relationship between entities mentioned in documents.
Amanda Strydom, senior programme manager at CivicSignal, and Sibusiso Biyela, science communicator at ScienceLink provided a walkthrough in their session on ‘using AI to structure, power and augment investigations’ on how newsrooms can use various AI tools and technologies to enhance their research, analysis, and reporting processes. This includes manipulating datasets, making predictions, blending data from multiple sources, and structuring investigations using tools like Notion.AI
Addressing job security concerns, she provided reassurance, ‘No, your journalism career is not on the line because of the newfound technology.’
However AI is not without its challenges, including biases, ethical concerns, and lack of local language support. A recent survey by CivicSignal found that although newsrooms were using AI tools, policies guiding their use were notably absent. The report, titled ‘Transparency and trust: newsroom policies’, analysed more than 100 newsrooms in Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia.
‘Transparency when using AI in newsrooms isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card. You have to use it correctly and observe journalism ethics while at it,’ said Chris Roper.
To help to address some of these concerns, CfA signed on to the Partnership for AI’s Responsible Practices for Synthetic Media: A Framework for Collective Action. The framework is a commitment by tech industry leaders, including Meta, IBM, Microsoft and Google, to promote responsible practices in the development, creation, and sharing of synthetic media.
Code for Africa (CfA) is the continent’s largest network of civic technology and data journalism labs, with teams in 21 countries. CfA builds digital democracy solutions that give citizens unfettered access to actionable information that empowers them to make informed decisions and strengthens civic engagement for improved public governance and accountability. This includes building infrastructure like the continent’s largest open data portals at openAFRICA and sourceAFRICA. CfA incubates initiatives as diverse as the africanDRONE network, the PesaCheck fact-checking initiative, the sensors.AFRICA air quality sensor network, and the research and analysis programme CivicSignal.
CfA also manages the African Network of Centres for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR), which provides the continent’s best muckraking newsrooms with the newest possible forensic data tools, digital security, and whistleblower encryption to help to improve their ability to tackle crooked politicians, organised crime, and predatory big business. CfA also runs one of Africa’s largest skills development initiatives for digital journalists, and seed funds cross-border collaboration.
