By Dr. Lelani Echaves-Paredes, STET
(Closing message for the forum-workshop on “Artificial Intelligence in Community Journalism,” organized by Stet (Women in Cebu Media) for Cebu Press Freedom Week 2024, held last September 20, 2024)
Let me thank our competent speaker, Mr. Jaemark Tordecilla, for giving us a very enlightening talk, and making us spend our day substantively. I hope I speak for some who realize that some creations or innovations begin as well-intentioned but then, sooner than later, grow a mind of their own and then loom as dangerous or disastrous. Such is AI as described by the Godfather of AI himself, British-born Geoffrey Hinton. After spending 50 years developing cutting-edge AI he realized the dangers it poses because it could become more superior than the human brain. And so, like Robert Oppenheimer who built the atomic bomb, Hinton regretted developing the AI.
That’s why I’m happy that questions were raised here, even from young people among you, expressing concerns about legal and ethical considerations.
I’ve been a teacher for a long time so when I first heard of AI, I was worried. I used to teach thesis writing and I could see, after reading the first two paragraphs of a student’s work, that something was off. So I would ask the student if he had gotten some help for the work submitted because it seemed like two people had done it. You see, the basic principle is that no person writes differently from the way he speaks. Now that there’s AI, I’m actually glad that I’m not teaching anymore.
True, AI offers many benefits. But it also has its pitfalls, pushing us into a Catch 22 situation where we have to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea.
So how to win in this game of brinkmanship? AI as a tool can help in content creation, but it can make us really lazy and, before we know it, when we are trying to beat the deadline, we forget to abide by the four rules for journalists: To seek truth and report it, to minimize harm, to be accountable, and to be transparent.
While AI beckons, let us not be lured by its siren’s call. Let’s not surrender our brains, our critical thinking, our energy and stamina, our professional ethics. Now that AI has entered our universe, it is very unlikely that it will go away soon.
