Artificial intelligence in the media under scrutiny

Odense, 8. december 2021

The parties behind the media tech cluster Media City Odense are joining forces on a new project at SDU, which will pave the way for utilizing new technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) even more around the editorial offices.

Digitization and AI are gaining more and more ground in the media industry, where the advent of new technologies has an impact on news production and the journalistic work process.

While many pay particular attention to the disadvantages and dangers of using AI in the newsroom, it also offers opportunities to free up time for core journalistic tasks and to strengthen democratic dialogue.

These are the aspects that a new research project at SDU must now help to shed more light on.

What does AI mean for the media industry? The project is a collaboration between SDU's Digital Democracy Center, Media City Odense, Jysk Fynske Medier, TV 2 and TV 2 Fyn, and it is the largest investment to date, which the founders of the strategic collaboration Media City Odense have joined forces on.

- We will examine how AI changes the news and the editorial processes, but also how it creates new jobs and collaborative relationships in the newsrooms. The question is what determines whether journalists and the media take the digital opportunities or distance themselves from them, says Claes de Vreese, who heads the Digital Democracy Center and is one of the researchers behind the study.

AI and the democratic conversation And that there is a need for more knowledge in the field, according to director of Media City Odense Anne Dyrehauge is absolutely crucial:

- If we in the media industry are to remain relevant to the Danes and the democratic conversation, we need to be at the forefront of the development of digital technologies and AI. It is absolutely crucial that the media play an active role, because otherwise we leave it to the tech giants and pure commercial forces to develop the digital technologies of the future.

She also would like the project to pave the way for greater interdisciplinary collaboration on the newsrooms.

- Journalists and developers have typically sat in separate parts of the media houses, but in the future I think we will see much more collaboration between content producers and developers. There is a lot to be gained by thinking about content and technology together, both for the collaboration on the editorial boards and also for the media users, says Anne Dyrehauge.

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