1st LD-Writethru-China Focus: Think tank report explores opportunities, challenges for news media in AI era

URUMQI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A report released on Monday by a think tank affiliated with Xinhua, China's national news agency, provides insights into the opportunities and challenges faced by news media outlets worldwide in the era of artificial intelligence (AI).

Just like the previous revolutions in communication technology, the development of AI cannot escape from the "Collingridge dilemma," says the report, titled "Responsibility and Mission of News Media in AI Era," highlighting the quandary between the need for development and the imperative of governance in order to harness AI for the betterment of humanity.

The report examines the opportunities and challenges that global media face in the AI era, and explores the media's mission while highlighting the current state of perception and use of AI in global news media, said Fu Hua, president of Xinhua News Agency and chairman of the academic committee of Xinhua Institute.

The 23,000-word report, crafted into four parts, was based on extensive interviews with global media organizations, technology companies, and scientific research institutes, as well as multi-language questionnaires to global media outlets.

According to the report, released during the ongoing 6th World Media Summit in Urumqi, the capital city of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the majority, 66 percent, of the news media surveyed worldwide view the impact of generative AI on the industry positively. Additionally, 51.2 percent of the respondents had already started implementing AI technologies.

Media organizations primarily expected generative AI to enhance the timeliness and productivity of news reporting. However, they also expressed apprehensions about the potential credibility risks associated with AI, particularly regarding the "distortion and inaccuracy of news clues and materials." A substantial 76.4 percent of respondents shared these concerns.

Additionally, a significant majority, 85.6 percent, of the surveyed news media believed that the application of generative AI required better regulation.

These findings were based on a questionnaire survey conducted in 2024. The survey covered over 1,000 respondents from 53 countries and regions, representing a diverse range of media outlets such as newspapers, periodicals, broadcasting and television stations, news agencies, websites, and mobile application service providers.

Speaking at the summit, Andrey Kondrashov, director general of Russia's TASS news agency, said that AI is profoundly transforming the media industry. "It is essential for media practitioners to come together and seize this opportunity to utilize this technology correctly, to collectively enhance human well-being," he said.

"AI is driving a new wave of productivity in news media, creating advanced productive forces across content collection, production, distribution, and evaluation," the report points out.

It empowers both media organizations and consumers with enhanced experiences that transcend time and space, integrating virtual and real-world interactions, and facilitating human-machine communication.

Additionally, AI is fostering new business models, including a media-centric approach for everything, platform-based media, and a digitalized and intelligent industry.

The report, however, warns against multiple risks and challenges brought about by the uncertainty of AI and its misuse.

False information has escalated in scale, form and distribution, triggering a global crisis of authenticity, it says, noting that the technology's limitations and the users' private interests have created a "collusion" effect, polluting public opinion and negatively affecting individual perceptions and societal discourse.

Tamas Kovacs, CEO of Hungary's ATV Media Group, said disseminating truth remains the core of news reporting and the responsibility that news media should shoulder in the digital era, amidst the rapid development of new technologies. "Collaboration between media outlets, particularly in the realm of new technologies, holds greater value than ever before," he said.

Furthermore, widespread value disputes and ethical dilemmas have put AI in a dilemma between development and governance, according to the report.

The "intelligence divide" may further widen the gap between people, urban and rural areas, and between the North and the South, promoting technological hegemony and exacerbating global development imbalances, it adds.

The report proposes that news media should shoulder their social responsibilities, commit to a "people-first" approach and promote "intelligence for good" in the era of AI.

To achieve this goal, news media could accelerate intelligent-driven initiatives to enhance media value, prioritize ethical use of AI to establish robust standards, shoulder social responsibilities to optimize the cognitive environment, and foster dialogue and cooperation to improve global governance.

"In this way, powerful media forces will unite to build a community with a shared future and contribute to a better world," the report says.