Media as the 4th pillar of democracy performs an indispensable role in the proper functioning of a transparent society. Its functions as a watchdog, as an open forum for public voice, as a mass educator and as an empowerment platform; are essential to safeguarding transparency of democratic processes. It is the traditional ‘gatekeeping role’ of the media which has given the profession immense power throughout history.
In the 21st century, this fundamental role of the press as ‘gatekeepers of information’ has structurally changed. With the globalization of the Internet, each user today is empowered to create and disperse news, in real time and
on their own terms, resulting in an explosion – an ‘infodemic’ – of information and the advent of citizen journalism. Digital media platforms are the foremost examples of this change, with the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, reshaping the global media landscape altogether, within a few short years! Today, Governments and Leaders around the world communicate directly with the public on digital platforms, oftentimes bypassing legacy media completely. This in itself is not a bad thing; it is natural behavioral change, which happens with evolution in communication technologies.
Now however, with rapid progress in artificial intelligence (AI), something unprecedented is on the horizon and it is completely revolutionizing our fundamental understandings of what ‘media’ is and how 21st century democracies and societies function. AI is not just another evolution in technology, it is a radical transition from the human to the digital world and it must be seen and understood as such within the media landscape. For the first time in our long human history, machines are developing the ability to think, act and behave (produce output) independently of human beings; oftentimes performing the tasks better than we can. Be it ChatGPT, Wikipedia or stock markets, advanced AI algorithms that only a handful of people in the world understand, are creating and disseminating information at an extraordinary scale.
Which brings me to the question of trust – that is so vital for human society, cardinal to democracy and organic in media. Without trust, societies and States crumble and a breach of trust between media and the viewers/readers/audiences is a death knell of any media organization. Responsible journalism entails accountability; it has clear guidelines and assigns blame when ethics and norms are violated. The power of the media comes from the trust the public bestows upon the profession as ‘guardians of accurate information’. Today, an ordinary Indian citizen believes what he reads in the newspaper and sees on television each morning, not because he wants to, or is being forced to; but because he trusts that since it is in the newspaper and(or) on television, it is the news.
My fear is that with rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, the possibility of a breach of societal trust is increasing exponentially, particularly since there is no global legal framework to define, structure and limit what is happening to our world as artificial intelligence technologies proliferate. To contextualize this breach, let us look at X, formerly known as twitter, which is the preferred governmental, societal and journalistic platform for breaking news globally. As AI algorithms develop, and AI bots (codes & automated programmes) run rampant on the digital platform, what guarantee does a common citizen of India have today, that the ‘person’ they are interacting with on X, the photos they are liking and the profiles they follow, actually belong to a human being and are not artificially created by a bot, a machine? After all, the overwhelming majority of users and stories on X are not verified. Still many if not most of all such stories get picked up by mainstream media and published. The ability of artificial intelligence to mimic and replicate human cognitive functions has already breached the divide between human and the digital. If users of digital media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc. do not even know whether the information/ other users they are interacting with are humans or not, what happens to societal trust, specially trust in media?
This is what I refer to as hacking human beings. On a larger scale, digitization is progressively permeating global democracies around the world, making them more vulnerable to: inauthenticity, data insecurity and disinformation. If this trend continues, the breach of trust will grow so wide, that large sections of the public may stop believing and consuming mainstream media altogether. We have seen this in the United States and are now seeing signs of this in our own country. If this trend becomes permanent what will happen to Indian democracy, plurality and the media profession? Does it die a slow painful death or are we able to transform ourselves as a society, formulating a new social contract to keep up with changing times?
My answer to this provocative thought is that media and society must adapt to, accept and utilize AI for the better good, but with strong ground rules. Think of the media profession as a financial market or currency. As long as there has been money in the world, there has been counterfeiting of that money. Yet for centuries, the trust in the financial system and in money has not collapsed. Even today, money is the key fuel driving our daily lives and interactions. So what have financial institutions and markets done to maintain and keep public trust in money even in the face of rampant counterfeiting? Simply put, they have put in place a set of strong ethical and universal framework of rules and regulations, where law protects the sanctity of money and it is seen as a sacred commodity in society, not to be manipulated with.
A similar universal, ethical and responsible journalistic framework for the use of artificial intelligence in mass communication needs to be developed and adopted. Established ground rules for the use of artificial intelligence in media will bring clarity and purpose, acting as a bulwark against misinformation and disinformation, especially as most media organisations have already started to walk down the AI path.
News like money is fungible and global. We need strong universal guardrails, if media is to maintain its core principles and legitimacy in the Age of AI.
