UZH study: clear majority of Swiss media professionals use AI tools
The study shows: The vast majority of media professionals in Switzerland use AI in their day-to-day work, but mainly for supporting activities and less for producing content.
They are rather ambivalent about the impact of the use of AI tools on media quality. They are in favor of industry-wide standards and greater cooperation in the area of AI infrastructure in order to reduce dependence on tech platforms.
How and for what purpose are AI tools used in journalism - with what effects?
The rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way news is produced. But what are the consequences for journalism? Based on an online survey of 730 media professionals from the three major language regions, the fög - Research Center for the Public Sphere and Society at the University of Zurich (UZH) has for the first time comprehensively investigated the use and impact of AI on Swiss journalism.
Majority of media professionals use AI tools
AI tools have become established in editorial offices: The majority of media professionals (87%) use AI in their day-to-day work, some even very heavily (17%). Conversely, however, a not insignificant proportion of respondents never (13%) or hardly ever (18%) use AI tools. Younger media professionals and employees in larger editorial offices use them more frequently than their older colleagues or employees in small editorial offices.
Almost two thirds (63%) of Swiss journalists consider AI to be useful for their own work. "AI tools are mainly used for support - for example for transcriptions, text optimization or title suggestions," says Silke Fürst, who is responsible for the study. According to the research assistant at fög, the generation of entire content, be it texts, images or videos, hardly plays a role.
Ambivalent assessment of effects on quality
Assessments of how the use of AI affects the quality of content vary. Around a third of respondents state that the quality of their contributions has improved through the use of AI. However, a larger proportion (38%) state that this is hardly or not at all the case. Some media professionals also admit that they do not have enough time to carefully check AI-generated information (18%) or to supplement it with their own sources or sources of information (24%).
The majority of respondents report that there are no systematic quality assurance measures in place in their editorial department when using AI or that they are not aware of them. 15% of respondents state that the editorial use of AI has already led to errors. "Unsurprisingly, four out of five media professionals believe that AI raises many ethical questions in journalism," says Fürst.
AI guidelines not sufficiently known
In recent years, guidelines for dealing with AI have been introduced in many media companies and across the industry. Almost half of those surveyed consider the guidelines of their own media company or editorial department to be helpful, but just under a third are unaware of them. The industry-wide AI guidelines are perceived as useful by significantly fewer respondents and even fewer are familiar with them. However, more than 80% of media professionals believe that industry-wide standards for labeling AI in media coverage are needed. This would allow the audience to better understand the use of AI.
Problematic dependence on tech companies
With regard to the impact on the entire media industry, skeptical assessments predominate - similar to the Swiss population. "61% of media professionals assume that the use of AI in Swiss journalism will encourage the spread of misinformation, 68% expect content to be standardized and 70% fear that AI could jeopardize the trust of the audience," says Silke Fürst.
In addition, many journalists note a growing dependence on tech companies (75%) and are in favor of collaborations to develop their own AI tools (46%). This would reduce the investment costs for individual media companies, take better account of the requirements of Swiss editorial offices and reduce the imbalance between large and smaller editorial offices.
The study with the assessments of Swiss media professionals on the use of AI in journalism here available.
