Most newsrooms in Nigeria have yet to incorporate AI as an official tool in news processing.
This is part of the preliminary findings of a research on the “Use of Artificial Intelligence in Newsrooms” by a group of researchers from the Department of Mass Communication, Plateau State University.
Journalists sampled for the research, however, admitted to using AI in their engagements.
The research also revealed that concerns were raised about the use of AI, especially around manipulating AI algorithms to promote misinformation and disinformation, with responses pointing to deepfakes.
“We also discovered that influential bodies like Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) have not yet developed a clear regulatory policy on using AI in journalism.
“Few newsrooms have a framework in place to guide the use of AI, and most journalists use the free versions of AI tools, reducing their capacity to explore the whole gamut of AI platforms to enhance their tools,” Dr Adeyanju Apejoye, the lead researcher, stated.
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Twenty-six journalists from the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Daily Trust Newspaper, Plateau Radio and Television (PRTV), Vanguard, Super FM, Benin, TIN City Radio, and The Nation Newspapers were sampled and data collected between March and April 2024.
The researchers recommended that media organisations, media development agencies, and relevant government agencies implement a training programme to train journalists on using AI for news gathering, processing, and dissemination.
” We also recommended that the government and other relevant organisations encourage the development of AI platforms that reflect local nuances, and Nigerian journalists should be involved in training such language models for use in journalism practice,” Dr Apejoye said.
