DataPublics PI: We need to talk about editorial values in AI

Across the world media outlets is increasingly letting their sites being managed with the help of have already left their platforms to artificial intelligence. Despite this, Danish media have not yet gone all in, which is likely due to publicist traditions in the Danish media system, says PI of the DataPublics project Jannie Møller Hartley

The media researcher has just given a presentation at a conference on artificial intelligence in the media. In particular, personalization and recommendation systems are taking up more and more space in the media publishers. She emphasizes that the media are careful to personify the entire site, as the journalists are not comfortable leaving, for example, the top stories to the algorithms.

"Journalists still largely think in front pages. And they therefore still hold the central, top stories on the page. But it may have been tempting to hand over the entire site to the algorithms, which can prioritize the news based on the individual user's interests and user history. This has happened, among other things, in some media compagnies in Sweden, with great succes on the commercial parameters" she says.

Jannie Møller Hartley believes that it is important that the editorial environments play a greater role in the discussions about where we are going with the use of artificial intelligence.

"That part is often left to the development departments, and many journalists do not know how the adaptation of content takes place in practice. Algorithms are many things, and they require technical knowledge, which journalists unfortunately rarely have," she says.