By Riley Young, Aureliz Roman, DeLana Wooldridge | July 8, 2026
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has completely overtaken the global stage in recent years. This technology is widely accessible and capable of performing tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence, including data analysis, pattern recognition, and content generation. For journalists, generative AI is field-altering. It can significantly decrease the time spent conducting research for an article, compile ideas to include within a piece, and even generate whole works ready to publish within minutes. While this may sound great, there are a number of significant ethical concerns that journalists must keep in mind when attempting to use AI, relating to individuals’ privacy, bias in media, maintaining truth, and AI’s ability to influence what information is shared. These issues directly contradict the journalistic values of honesty, balance, accuracy, and credibility, and must be addressed to secure the ethics of the field.
Unlike journalists, who strive to uphold journalistic values and conduct research ethically, AI does not respect individuals’ rights to privacy and is able to access large amounts of personal data, which can be used in the generation of articles or research. Unintentionally, every person with access to the internet is actively creating data for AI to analyze, and journalists must be aware of this when attempting to utilize AI to speed up their research in order to prevent the abuse of private information and mass surveillance (Shi and Shu). This is not just a concern for the average person, though. Research suggests that government officials and even developers themselves are at risk of having their data used by AI (Al-Zoubi et al.). Because there is an “absence of clear norms and standards” and legislation, it is difficult to prevent data exploitation from occurring (Al-Zoubi et al.). Everything that a person does online generates data, from scrolling social media to even simply walking around with a smart device (OVIC).
Throughout the history of technology there has always been evident biases, but AI leads to an excess thereof. The primary AI-induced biases are input bias, system bias, and application bias. Input biases are found inside the data which is used for algorithm training, and is caused by incomplete data, errors, skewed representations, and more. This bias makes it incredibly easy for strongly opinionated people to present their ideas more prominently within an algorithm, leading to inaccurate results. System bias is found inside the design and development of algorithms and originates in sampling data in target populations This bias, which is seen in the process of valid design and development, goes against the ethical principles of honesty, accuracy, and credibility in journalism and invalidates the art that goes into producing an article. Application bias (also known as human bias) is the use of AI in comparative analysis. These biases “undermine the principles of justice and fairness” within journalism, particularly when issues “of race, sex, gender, age, [and] socioeconomic status” are involved, and must be avoided (Hofmann).
Truth has also been jeopardized as a result of AI. Most people know that not everything on the internet is true, but the rise of AI has begun to blur the line between truth and fiction. While AI can be accurate, many say that “[Generative] AI usefulness in making fabrications convincingly authentic [conceals] its [ability to blur] the boundaries of reality” (Shin, Yi, and Lin Sun). Because AI is able to create videos and images that look real, there is an increasing risk that society may fail to determine what is factual. Another cause for concern is the increase in eroding public trust, accelerating the spread of misinformation, and draining newsroom resources on rigorous fact-checking. These challenges cause significant problems, and occur when “Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are used for face swapping, lip synchronization, facial re-enactment, motion transfer, and more” (Shin, Yi, and Lin Sun). AI can allow people to portray a generated opinion or likeness that is completely fake. This is highly problematic and unethical, and has no place in journalism.
As AI models continue to advance, it has the potential to hold more influence over what is being put in the news. The news industry is concerned by the fact that “whoever possesses the technology and controls the resource decides what is newsworthy” (Shin, Yi, and Lin Sun). If AI’s power continues to grow, human interest stories may begin to lack the “human” part. AI does not share the same emotions and interests as humans, and news stories may begin to get watered down and become less appealing. This may lead to less and less people consuming news media and staying informed, which is highly dangerous.
It is evident that the rising use of artificial intelligence is not for the greater good. In the long run, it will damage accurate research, data, reputations, relationships, and more. We have already begun to see the negative influences AI has placed on digital society with its intrusion of privacy, exaggerated biases, and lack of accuracy. It is better to add regulations, whether that be emplaced in school systems or through legislation and oversee the excessive use of AI now rather than later in hopes to restore the human touch in the world.
