Artificial Intelligence in Slow Journalism: Journalists’ Uses, Perceptions, and Attitudes

Abstract

Through long-form, creative, high-quality stories, slow journalism seeks to counteract the effects of speed and immediacy in news production and consumption primarily driven by technological advancements. The advantages of artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism include generating and enhancing content, reducing workloads, and consequently giving journalists more time for non-routine and creative tasks. This raises the question of where AI fits into slow journalism. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with practitioners of slow journalism in Spain to explore their use, attitudes, and perceptions of AI in their work. The findings indicate that the interviewees make rudimentary use of AI tools, and their attitudes range from a slight lack of interest to a willingness to learn more about them, alongside concerns regarding ethical boundaries and the potential for job losses. They assert that they have a moral and human responsibility when producing stories that AI cannot enhance in terms of quality, creativity, and emotional depth. It can be concluded that AI offers little to ‘slow’ journalists due to the significant limitations in enhancing long-form reporting. At most, it may enable them to streamline repetitive and non-creative work, thereby allowing the depth required in slow journalism, at least in its current state of development.