How do today’s journalists keep their credibility while utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) or emerging tools in technology in writing news stories and documentaries?
GMA Network’s and the Philippines’ most trusted journalists Raffy Tima and Malou Mangahas provided insights into the production of documentaries in the rapidly changing news media landscape during GMA Network’s “Masterclass: Cebu Press Freedom Week Special” on September 16, 2024 in the University of the Philippines Cebu.
Tima, seasoned documentarist and one of the anchors of GMA-7’s “Balitanghali,” said that disclosure is important when writing AI-generated stories or using AI tools.
“Pwede nating i-leverage pa rin naman yun. Kunin natin kung ano yung positive do’n. Kung gumagamit ka man ng AI sa pagsusulat ng article o sa paggawa ng isang video, dapat i-claim mo siya as AI. Kung kaya mo naman i-explain, why not. Pero i-disclose mo na AI-generated yun. As much as possible, dapat hindi, kasi tao tayo, mas matalino naman siguro tayo kesa sa computers. Ang advantage lang naman nila is speed. Mas mabilis talaga silang mag-collate, mabilis mag-produce. Kunin natin yung best of both worlds, yung technology at yung kakayahan nating mag-isip,” Tima emphasized.
As for Malou Mangahas of “The Mangahas Interviews” podcast, and founder of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), she cited that AI is either a tool for efficiency or confusion.
“AI is a big, big paradise. May good, may bad. Pero kung AI yung ginagamit to interfere with the communication process especially, papalapit ang election, if it will present itself as a news material, doon may danger. Pero tingin kong vulnerability is we have not really curated it well enough. Kasi hindi lang naman siya simpleng AI in production of content, but AI in terms of influencing or manipulating voters and the vote,” Mangahas said citing the danger of AI-generated news materials during the elections to be likely high.
She also cited that the role of journalists has become more challenging and crucial in the age of digital journalism in countering misinformation and disinformation.
“Basically AI can be useful as a tool, it makes things faster. But it can also be bad, it can confuse the conversation. Marami tayong trabaho. Magiging trabaho natin together in the news media is alamin: ‘O, ano ngayon ang gagawin ng mamamayan na hindi madala o maniwala sa deep fakes o robo-vlogs’,” Mangahas underscored.
The two veteran broadcast and investigative journalists advised students to read their history, being an essential in becoming “good documentarists.”
“We write more than we read. We speak more than we read. Ang problema foundation ng critical thinking at critical analysis yung reading,” Mangahas said.
Tima stressed that if a journalist alienates himself from his history, he is bound to make mistakes in his documentaries.
“Kung hindi mo alam ang iyong kasaysayan, magkakamali at magkakamali ka bilang isang mamamahayag, kasi ang lahat ng nangyayari ngayon may konteksto yan, nangyari na yan before, kaugnay yan ng mga nakaraang istorya, kaugnay yan ng ating kasaysayan. So dapat alam mo ang iyong history. Yun, simple lang, know your history,” Tima further shared.
The “GMA Masterclass: Cebu Press Freedom Week Special” has opened the series of talks set for the entire month of September 2024.
