Rula KhalafThe editor-in-chief of The Financial Times writes about how the business newspaper will work with artificial intelligence.
Khalaf writes: “However, although they seem very clear and plausible, the AI models in the market today are ultimately predictive engines, and they learn from the past. They can make up facts, this is what is called “hallucinations”, and make up links and references. If manipulated enough, AI models can produce completely fake images and articles. They also repeat existing societal perspectives, including historical biases.
“I believe our mission to produce journalism of the highest standards is even more important in this era of rapid technological innovation. At a time when misinformation can be created and spread quickly and trust in the media has generally declined, we at the FT have an even greater responsibility to be transparent, report the facts and pursue the truth. That’s why, in the new era of AI, FT journalism will continue to be reported and written by people who are the best in their fields and who are dedicated to reporting and analyzing the world as it is, accurately and fairly.
“The FT is also a pioneer in the digital journalism business and our business partners will embrace AI to deliver services for readers and customers and maintain our record of effective innovation. Our newsroom must also remain a center of innovation. It is important and necessary for the FT to have a team in the newsroom that can responsibly test AI tools to help journalists with tasks such as data mining, text and image analysis and translation. We won’t publish photorealistic AI-generated images, but we will explore the use of AI-enhanced visuals (infographics, diagrams, photos) and when we do, we’ll make it clear to the reader. This will not affect artist illustrations for the FT. The team will also discuss the summarization capabilities of generative AI, always under human supervision.
“We will be transparent within the FT and with our readers. All newsroom testing will be logged internally, including, where possible, the use of third-party providers who may use the tool. Our journalists will be trained on how to use generative intelligence to uncover stories through a series of masterclasses.”
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