Journalism is facing its crisis moment with AI. It might not be a bad thing.
After decades of navigating technological upheavals, the battered and resilient news industry is realizing it’s time to raise its gloves once more — this time against an insurgent troupe of artificial intelligence companies.
While doomsdayers have long predicted that AI would threaten journalism, it’s finally feeling real this month as reports emerge of a sharp decline in search traffic — a once-reliable source that brings an audience to news sites.
Related Knowledge Center: Artificial intelligence
On top of a failing business model, newsrooms must navigate the powerful — and not fully reliable — new capabilities of artificial intelligence and the deployment of large language models.
State of the business model | Copyright and intellectual property
Related Knowledge Center: State of the business model
The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.
Related Knowledge Center: Inside the newsroom
As newsrooms struggle with rickety business models and precarious finances — as well as new technologies — they are deploying an array of editorial responses.
The Times and its critics | Washington Post mortem