How AI is influencing and journalism
- Gabriel Matos
- Jun 6
- 3 min read
Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, is changing the way we do things a lot, especially in politics and journalism. Just like young people are stepping up for climate change, AI is also stepping up in popularity, and it’s changing the way we used to do things to a new way of doing things that is facilitated. AI tools are now influencing what we read and how we get our personal perspectives.
AI in politics:
One major benefit of AI is that it can be used to make and spread political information. Sometimes these messages can be manipulative though, and untrustworthy. There are reports that a Chinese AI model called DeepSeek is faking conversations and manipulating topics. DeepSeek has known to go around sensitive topics like discussions about the Chinese government and purposely putting down American political figures. This isn’t a glitch or an issue in programming, but a possible intentional strategy to favor one side while harming the reputation of others. These manipulated chats can confuse voters and go around the facts, which makes it hard for people to know what’s true, and what information they should trust.
AI in journalism:
Journalism is also being affected by AI, reporters now use AI to look through a lot of news and social media to find trends and even to write rough drafts. This means articles are getting published faster than ever before. But this speed sometimes doesn’t benefit accuracy, there have been moments where AI-generated content wasn’t checked properly by humans, leading to misinformation in some news stories. Journalists are trying to get a balance of AI, like efficiency and data analysis, with the need to verify facts and keep content trustful for the user.
The DeepSeek Conflict
DeepSeek is a very good example of the two-sided world of AI, while it helps and facilitates a lot of people to answer questions, it also shows clear signs of unfairness and manipulation. When it’s asked about sensitive topics, DeepSeek frequently gives unclear and/or filtered answers. It sometimes fakes conversations about the Chinese government, and refuses to talk about sensitive topics, and then switches to criticize the American politics in a way that seems manipulated enough to gaslight and control people’s opinions. Also, while AI like DeepSeek can be good at creating large amounts of data in a short amount of time, they also raise big concerns about privacy and security, since they store user data which includes both private general information such as passwords, or financially, in ways that might not be secure for everyone.
What this means for us:
For everyday people, these developments mean we need to be more careful about the information that we trust online. With AI playing a bigger role in making political opinions, and news reporting, it’s important to ask questions like: Who controls this AI information? What are they programmed to say or hide? Even though some professionals like those that got quoted in a TIME article: “I don’t think we’ve seen AI really move the needle yet in any meaningful way” says Josh Lawson, which said that AI’s impact on elections hasn’t been as dramatic yet, it’s clear that the role of AI will grow very fast over time.
Looking ahead:
As AI continues to develop, both politics and journalism will need to adapt quickly. Newsrooms might need more human analyzing and fairness. It is something that everyone, like tech developers, to everyday citizens, will have to watch closely. In the end, understanding AI’s influence is crucial to make sure we all have a trustworthy, and fair perspective of the world.
Sources:
Comments