a quarter of French people open to news generated by AI

2023-11-22 13:30:11

Although the very principle makes journalists bristle, a quarter of French people (27%) say they are ready to read articles generated via artificial intelligence. “AI is playing a growing role in our lives, and information is no exception. And this is even more notable among those under 35: 47% of them say they are open to the idea of ​​reading articles written by AI”, notes Guillaume Caline, director of public issues and opinion at Kantar Public France. Which, in the long term, will radically change the way we get information. What, also, have consequences on the profession of journalist. Certainly, AI has already, through the use of algorithms, revolutionized the prioritization and dissemination of information. But what generative AI promises is incomparable, since it produces information via the aggregation of existing articles, the compilation of news agency reports, etc.

Moreover, news sites powered by generative AI are multiplying. “They extract data here and there and combine them, all resulting in a distorted view of reality”worries Antoine de Tarlé, former media executive and author of The End of Journalism? (1). And to further increase the disinformation at work. NewsGuard, which assesses the credibility of sites and networks, identified 537 at the end of October.

EXCLUSIVE???? @The cross reveals the results of its latest barometer on French people’s trust in the media #BaroMedia

This year there has been a marked increase in public interest in current affairs.

With @KantarFR and on the occasion of #[e-mail]/XBNjVQC7NG

— La Croix (@LaCroix) November 22, 2023

No surprise Fabrice Epelboin, teacher at Sciences Po and social media specialist: “These new types of media, almost entirely automated, will prove very profitable. The cost price of AI, compared to that of traditional editorial work, is formidable…” According to him, these sites could well reconfigure the media world. With what impact for the profession? “Special sites, such as Mediapart in terms of investigation for example, will not disappear”, assures the person concerned. He is less optimistic about general newsrooms making extensive use of dispatches…

A tool to do better?

In the profession, editorial secretariats, responsible for proofreading and enriching articles, could be the first to be impacted. This is evidenced by the experiment launched last month within The Republican East et Vosges Morning, both having decided to use ChatGPT for article correction. Faced with the ire aroused – the National Union of Journalists (SNJ) criticizing that we are allowing “the keys to information on computers” –, the project was stopped dead in its tracks. But until when ?

Anne-Sophie Novel, journalist and author of the book The Media, the world and us (2), wants to see in AI a form of spur: “It will never replace field work. She must encourage us to do better, to be smarter than her! » Let’s admit. However, journalists will not be able to do without AI training, “if only to learn to master it”adds Antoine de Tarlé.