AI is constantly evolving around us and is encountered by most people in everyday life without realising it. Whether you need directions, have a question for Google, or are scrolling on social media, AI is working behind the scenes to provide you with the information quickly and personalise your feeds depending on previous engagement. As useful as it is, some are sceptical that its capability is becoming so advanced that it can replace a human.
‘Bournemouth One’ is a new radio station based in the BCP area which was launched on 1st January by Roy Martin and Sophie Greenwood. The strap line for the station is ‘The news you need’ and aims to provide consumers with a nice balance of local and national breaking news, and music hits specifically chosen by the producers to appeal to the audience. Bournemouth One have used AI to its advantage to read out news bulletins or broadcast breaking news from a simple text message. Andy Diprose, the news editor, says how ‘technically advanced’ the station is and there is less of a need for a crowded newsroom.
When asked how it impacts the roles of journalists, Roy said: ‘I think the key is to only use it if you have to. You’ll never replace the human touch for any broadcasting… Where jobs are being lost for reading the news, there’ll be more jobs to write to code for the AI and make sure all the computers are running’.
‘I think it’s just evolution. I don’t see a problem.’
Matt Desmier is the business engagement and knowledge exchange manager for the faculty of media and communication at Bournemouth University. When asked about his thoughts on Bournemouth One’s way of using AI, he states he finds it ‘really interesting’ and thinks AI works best ‘when it augments what we do as people, and to get it to replace that is kind of an interesting take’.
Desmier understands there is general concern for the public about the future of AI and whether it could decrease job opportunities for people, however he said that AI ‘can be seen as an opportunity rather than a threat and give people a chance to up-skill and do more interesting jobs than the less mundane jobs’.
The evolution of AI will constantly grow within the journalism industry, but it is whether the public finds it a trustworthy replacement for the human touch.
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