Perception of Artificial Intelligence on the News Industry: A Study of Aljazeera Network

This study aims to examine the perceptions of the news industry on artificial intelligence utilizing Aljazeera as a case study. Literature reported that studies on A.I. in the context of the news industry are scarce; therefore, exploratory and qualitative research approaches were used to study this phenomenon in greater detail. The data were collected through four in-depth interviews coupled with a survey. The interview participants were carefully selected to understand the research topic comprehensively. Different perspectives were sought: a professor and a decision-maker with a broad vision and plan for the future of artificial intelligence, an expert in A.I. models providing a technical perspective, a journalist and an academic at the same time, and an Aljazeera producer working with A.I. models. A structured five-point Likert Scale questionnaire was completed by 33 respondents working at Aljazeera media network. This study used descriptive statistics to extract information from the collected data. Descriptive statistics reported that 91% of respondents believe that A.I is less biased compared to humans. The results further revealed that the majority (62.5%) of respondents showed disagreement that A.I might replace humans in the newsroom for writing articles. Moreover, 66% of respondents believe A.I will increase the unemployment rate in the news industry because of replacing humans. Most respondents showed disagreement that A.I will comply with the journalism ethics, with only 21% agreeing.