BU roundtable on how AI is transforming journalism

Bennett University’s Centre for Research on Media and Technology organized a Roundtable on “How Artificial Intelligence is transforming journalism” on February 25.
Delivering the presidential address, Bennett University Vice Chancellor Prof (Dr) Prabhu Kumar Aggarwal said that the university possesses a unique capability since it is in the forefront of cutting-edge work in both media and technology.
AI will help de-clutter news
Mr Pankaj Pachauri, founder of GoNews and former communications adviser to then prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, said that AI’s job should be to “cut out the clutter and turn information into news”.
He also stressed the need for credible content, and removal of fake news.“We have to teach the common public how to trust what we are watching. In Finland in primary schools, the kids were being taught what is fake news on ‘social media’. We want trustworthy news on every subject, to make people more and more aware about what is news and what are the challenges,” he said.
Mr Shirish Kulkarni, an award-winning journalist and researcher with 25 years’ experience working in all major broadcast newsrooms in the UK, said that journalism should help us understand the world, locate us in our environment and enable us to meaningfully interact with it. “It should help us form views which are consistent with the needs and interests of ourselves and our communities.”
Audience-centric intelligence & insights
Mr Ashish Verma, head of AI Labs at the Singapore Press Holdings, said that there has to be a right balance between content, subscription and advertising. “Great content is the foundation. It has to be combined with audience-centric intelligence and insight,” said Ashish.
Mr Ritvvij Parikh, director, Director News Product at Times of India Digital, gave a demonstration of how AI can be used to write a blog. He stressed that even though an AI tool can write a blog, but it does require human intervention.
The two panels were moderated by Dr Rahul Dass from The Times School of Media and Dr Tapas Badal from the School of Computer Science Engineering and Technology.
Newer forms of storytelling
Prof Deepak Garg, Dean of School for Computer Science Engineering and Technology, in his keynote address, said that a lot of content is generated through Artificial Intelligence. He added that AI very well knows which particular video or news item to be targeted.
Prof Sunil Saxena, Head of Department, Times School of Media, delivered the closing address in which he spoke about the significance of Artificial Intelligence in mass media. He summed up the Roundtable by stressing upon the need to focus on AI as well as on newer forms of storytelling.

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