How AI is tightening its grip on society and challenging journalism

AI-generated fake news is more and more a serious threat to the integrity of information online. Adversaries are using AI to create realistic-looking articles and websites that spread false narratives and sow division in societies.

Recently Russians created stories that had been taken from legitimate news outlets and modified using large language models, most likely one built by Openai, the American firm that operates Chatgpt, according the Economist.

Recorded Future, a threat-intelligence company discovered that 90 French articles had been translated and re-edited also by the Russians and in the same way to attack President Macron. With the US elections in sight, concerns about misinformation are shaper than ever in the US.

As such AI is rapidly transforming the media landscape, presenting both opportunities and challenges for journalism. Although AI can automate tasks, simplify complex information, and generate news articles, it also raises heavy concerns.

First,? key challenge is the replacement of journalistic jobs by performing routine tasks, leading to worries about the future of the profession.

Second, AI has the power to be used in the creation fake news stories and disinformation that appear to be written by humans.

Third, the explosion of AI-generated content raises issues around copyright, liability, and the ability to discern between AI-generated and human-written articles.

But AI technology might go even further.

A new process is the influence of AI in particularly multi-agent systems (MAS), able to create real looking news stories with perspectives from different angles. A multi-agent system is composed of multiple interacting intelligent agents, or autonomous entities that can sense, learn models of their environment, make decisions and act upon them.

Their growing influence of? fake news increases interest in social scientistsand generates the need to develop measures to reduce this? phenomenon of a multi-agent simulation system for spreading fake information in what they call scale-free networks, according scientists from the Cambridge University.

This way AI's role in generating news content will challenge the authenticity and quality of real journalistic output, with its potential to erode norms and values.

Therefore, the use of AI in newsrooms, especially in automated content creation, while using multiple agent systems introduces ethical challenges and questions about the impact on human journalistic creativity that have to be addressed. Any integration of AI in journalism requires careful consideration to maintain journalistic integrity and credibility amidst the technological advancements shaping the industry.

Ultimately, the impact of AI on journalism will depend on decisions made by executives, managers, journalists, technology companies, regulatory bodies, and the public. But AI multi-team of agents systems ( MAS) in the wrong hands might be a formidable weapon.