The New York Times vs. AI: Is This the Death of Journalism?
AI is no longer just a simple player in today’s media world, it’s the whole dang game. How is one to beat the game? By playing by the rules or using cheat codes? Let’s dive in and find out.
Recently, it came to light that one of the big dogs of journalism; The New York Times; is taking on the giants of the AI world: OpenAI and Microsoft. The focal point of this dispute? Millions of articles from The Times were allegedly used to train ChatGPT and Copilot, leading to copyright infringement and direct competition between AI and journalists. This legal dispute is so much more than just another day in the courts, it’s going to decide the fate of journalism as we know it.
We could be around the bush, but let’s just get right to it. Journalism is a scared puppy looking up at the monstrous top dog that AI is becoming. Algorithms are beginning to replace human touch, and society is loving it. Just imagine a world where your news comes from a code-driven AI and not your local journalists. Lacking emotion and empathy. Is that really what society wants?
Let’s speculate for a second that it is. What happens then? Small newsrooms and journalists will die off, lost in the sea of AI. The “top dogs” like The Times, will stay strong for a while, but will also more than likely lose their readership to AI. No readers, no money. No money, no man-made journalism.
If this happens, and all journalism businesses shut down, how will AI get its news? With no place to steal information, AI itself would then begin to fade out. We could see a dystopian cycle where AI rises and fades as it swallows the media industry and then starves when it lacks content to steal.
That’s why The New York Times vs OpenAI and Microsoft court case is so important to the fate of journalism as we know it. The verdict is either going to chain down the threatening AI or unleash it to wreak havoc on the world of journalism.
Journalists’ Game Plan Against AI Takeover
Let’s imagine for a second that AI wins this monumental court case. All hope is not lost for the world of journalism, although it does look bleak right now. Many will lose their jobs due to the lower demand for human-written content. However, journalists can adapt and pivot to survive.
Start by looking at your strengths. What do journalists have that AI doesn’t? A human perspective. Play to your strengths of storytelling, ethical grounding, and human perspective.
Embrace AI and use it for all the mundane topics but utilize your human perspective for in-depth pieces, opinion pieces, and investigative journalism. AI won’t be able to replicate the human moral compass, empathy, or the human soul. Use this to your advantage.
To anyone in, or looking to go into the journalist world: AI won’t be the death of journalism. It will simply cause the journalism world to pivot. The sooner you learn to embrace and co-exist with AI, the better off you will be no matter how The Times court case turns out. Find what makes you unique and use AI to enhance it, not replace it.
Your words are so much mightier than the algorithm if you know how to use them correctly. Don’t let the future of journalism be written by code. Make sure it is written by you.
