Poynter: When it comes to using AI in journalism, put audience and ethics first; Poynter Institute, September 12, 2024

  Poynter Institute; Poynter: When it comes to using AI in journalism, put audience and ethics first

"Download a PDF of the full report, “Poynter Summit on AI, Ethics & Journalism: Putting audience and ethics first.”

Rapidly advancing generative artificial intelligence technology and journalism have converged during the biggest election year in history. As more newsrooms experiment with AI, the need for ethical guidelines and audience feedback have surfaced as key challenges.

The Poynter Institute brought together more than 40 newsroom leaders, technologists, editors and journalists during its Summit on AI, Ethics & Journalism to tackle both topics. For two days in June 2024, representatives from the Associated Press, the Washington Post, Gannett, the Invisible Institute, Hearst, McClatchy, Axios and Adams along with OpenAI, the Online News Association, the American Press Institute, Northwestern University and others, debated the use of generative AI and its place within the evolving ethics of journalism

The goals: Update Poynter’s AI ethics guide for newsrooms with insight from journalists, editors, product managers and technologists actually using the tools. And outline principles for ethical AI product development that can be used by a publisher or newsroom to put readers first.

Data from focus groups convened through a Poynter and University of Minnesota partnership underscored discussion, while a hackathon tested attendees to devise AI tools based on audience trust and journalistic ethics.""

Rethinking Ethics Training in Silicon Valley; The Atlantic, May 26, 2017

Irina Raicu, The Atlantic; Rethinking Ethics Training in Silicon Valley

"I work at an ethics center in Silicon Valley.

I know, I know, “ethics” is not the first word that comes to mind when most people think of Silicon Valley or the tech industry. It’s probably not even in the top 10. But given the outsized role that tech companies now play, it’s time to focus on the ethical responsibilities of the technologists who help shape our lives.

In a recent talk, technologist Maciej Ceglowski argued that “[t]his year especially there’s an uncomfortable feeling in the tech industry that we did something wrong, that in following our credo of ‘move fast and break things,’ some of what we knocked down were the load-bearing walls of our democracy.”...

I work in an applied ethics center, and we do believe that technology can help democracy (we offer a free ethical-decision-making app, for example; we even offer a MOOC—a free online course—on ethical campaigning!). For it to do that, though, we need people who are ready to tackle the ethical questions—both within and outside of tech companies."