The year of wonder

The future of journalism in 2026 begins with wonder. As AI accelerates and expands in media, journalism needs a pedagogy of wonder. This is an approach in education that encourages students to be critical, curious, and creative. For journalists, a pedagogy of wonder calls on them to become explorers, treating AI as a partner in inquiry to help them ask better questions, notice more, and deepen public understanding. It treats the newsroom as a learning space where curiosity is a method, and ethics is a practice. This isn’t about automating judgment but about expanding human insight.

With this approach, AI technologies are not a flawed tool or a looming threat, but a partner in curiosity. Wonder invites journalists to ask not, “How can AI help me?” but “What new questions can I ask with AI by my side?” In reporting, this means leveraging AI tools to find and scan public data to reveal patterns, then validating them with on-the-ground reporting. It means using language models to map absent voices in a debate. It transforms AI from an efficiency tool into a prism for the imagination.

Philosophically, the idea that learning begins in wonder has roots in ancient Greek thought. Journalists can take a cue from Socrates in using AI. For Socrates, wonder began with seeing human limits, recognizing how little is known and how much there is to learn, and accepting that yesterday’s answers may be inadequate. Following Plato’s example, journalists can spark wonder by testing familiar ideas about news and considering unfamiliar and perhaps uncomfortable alternatives.

When journalists collaborate with AI in storytelling, creativity flourishes. Teams can prototype formats that were challenging to create before. AI becomes a sandbox for safe experimentation, testing, and redrawing the boundaries of genre and medium.

Critical thinking and ethical reflection are heightened, not diminished. Wonder is not blind optimism, but it demands deeper questions. Journalists interrogate biases and systemic blind spots, using their innate curiosity to probe where algorithms might mislead or marginalize. They act as custodians of both technology and truth, responsible for upholding journalistic integrity.

The lens of wonder helps journalism move past fear. Fear isn’t a friend; caution is. Caution means setting clear purposes, trying tools, and assessing results for the public good. It also means asking what should and shouldn’t be done with AI systems. The most dynamic news organizations will integrate these to advance inquiry and service, not to replace human judgment. They’ll use AI as an intellectual sparring partner to stress test ideas, explore alternatives, and surface gaps, transforming the newsroom into a laboratory of possibilities.

Media change isn’t new or linear. New media technologies, from TV to the web to generative AI, provoke optimism, anxiety, resistance, and acceptance. Change comes in stops and starts as the old and new dance together, coexisting and sometimes colliding. A pedagogy of wonder keeps journalism open to that dance. It values experiment and reflection. It invites collaboration across disciplines and communities. Journalists become explorers, channelling AI systems to help find their way. Let curiosity take the helm and let fear and anxiety recede.