Advancements in technology and widespread adoption have led to significant changes in journalistic work practices. Artificial intelligence, in one form or another, has also made its way into newsrooms, playing an increasingly important role in shaping the daily news flow.

For example, back in January 2019, the Australian edition of the British daily The Guardian published a news article on political party donations that was not a typical journalist-written story but was entirely composed by The Guardian's AI application, ReporterMate. Now, more than five years later, the use of AI has become standard practice for major international media outlets. My bachelor's thesis also revealed that journalists working in Estonian newsrooms are using artificial intelligence more frequently and view it primarily as a tool that simplifies their work.

AI as an editor, but not a journalist

The results of the bachelor's thesis study revealed that journalists in Estonian media newsrooms are generally familiar with artificial intelligence (AI) tools designed for text and image processing. Among the respondents, the most well-known tool by far was the chatbot ChatGPT. As expected, journalists who had previously used AI were more likely to be able to name different AI programs. However, when it came to naming these programs, it became evident that journalists do not have a clear understanding of what AI truly is. There is confusion about which programs actually qualify as AI and what is simply automated processes within the newsroom.

Both the journalists' prior experience with AI and the experimental period during the study showed that AI is being used for various professional tasks. However, journalists predominantly see AI as a tool for editing text rather than as an equal partner in the editorial process. This is mainly because journalists do not yet trust AI enough to delegate more complex tasks to it. Instead, they tend to use AI for simpler jobs such as translation, editing English-language texts, summarizing documents or brainstorming ideas.

Some journalists, however, have found other uses for AI that go beyond text-related tasks. For example, one journalist described using AI to solve mathematical problems, some have created visuals for their articles with the help of AI programs, and one journalist has used AI to identify images and faces on social media for larger investigative pieces.

When exploring the potential uses of AI, it became clear that these programs are preferred primarily when they simplify and speed up routine work processes. For instance, AI can free journalists from routine tasks, giving them more time for in-depth analysis and longer articles. AI also provides journalists with additional skills and broadens their scope of work. For example, if a journalist is not comfortable with numbers, AI can serve as valuable support in mathematics, data processing and even programming.

However, alongside these advantages, there are also drawbacks that currently hinder the adoption of AI for certain tasks. Journalists noted that AI outputs, especially when working in an Estonian-language newsroom, can be flawed and often require significant post-editing, which is time-consuming. Therefore, it is not yet practical to use current AI programs for writing full Estonian-language news articles or for real-time information retrieval, as the available AI applications cannot yet perform these tasks accurately. Additionally, AI programs are not particularly useful for fact-checking Estonian-language content, as they can make significant, sometimes even embarrassing, errors in this area.

Skills play an important role

The study of Estonian journalists revealed that, as with other technological innovations, the adoption of AI among journalists is influenced by their professional competencies, the context of their work and their expectations of AI. This means that overall awareness of available AI programs plays a crucial role. Journalists who are well-versed in technology and familiar with various programs are better equipped to understand the reasons for using – or not using – certain applications. For example, the study found that while ChatGPT cannot be used for fact-checking, it is useful for editing tasks. However, this knowledge is only available to journalists who understand the nature of the application and are aware that ChatGPT is not based on real-time data but on information up to a certain date. Thus, technical pre-knowledge and proficiency in technology are important factors in AI adoption among journalists. Additionally, factors such as a journalist's computer skills and whether the newsroom's organizational culture supports the development of their technical competencies also play a role.

AI usage may also depend on the specifics of a journalist's work and their expectations of AI – whether it is needed for editing, document analysis, or there might not be tasks in the journalist's work that AI could assist with to begin with. For example, the study indicated that current AI programs are particularly beneficial to journalists working on longer news stories, where AI can be used to find missing data or process large documents. In contrast, AI is of limited use in day-to-day news reporting, as its capabilities in working with real-time data are still lacking.

As previously mentioned, compared to larger English-language newsrooms, one of the main obstacles to AI use for Estonian-language journalists is the language barrier. Estonian journalists do not see much value in widespread AI use if it does not deliver the expected results in their native language. There are few applications that work well in Estonian, making it impossible to produce high-quality native language text with current programs. Since language is the primary tool for Estonian journalists, if AI programs do not support working in the local language, they are either repurposed for other uses or not used at all.

Overall, the bachelor's thesis shows that journalists in Estonian media newsrooms have a positive attitude toward AI as a helpful tool. AI programs are already being integrated and could be used even more, according to the respondents, provided that users have the skills to competently apply the programs and maintain a critical mindset toward both the tools and the information they produce. Additionally, Estonian journalists are not concerned that AI will replace them; instead, they see it as a supportive tool that, when correctly applied, can be used to their advantage.

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