What AI can and cannot do for journalism
Deciding to use AI is only the beginning. Decide what you can delegate and how you will check the result. The manuscript organises the decision into three zones: controlled production tasks, supervised assistance and the reporting responsibilities that remain human.
The essentials
Green zone: form and production. AI may help with transcription, working translations, exploratory summaries or repeated wording when the result can be checked. Count the time gained only after verification. The purpose is to free attention for preparation and field reporting, not to conceal the work still required to make the output reliable.
Orange zone: supervised assistance. Possible angles, research questions, dossier structures and interview prompts can support brainstorming. Suggestions are not sources. Retrieve the documents, test the facts and decide which ideas deserve investigation. A useful proposal remains a proposal until it meets evidence outside the system.
Red zone: the core of the profession. The tool does not cultivate your sources, observe the scene, exercise your ethical judgment or answer to the public for publication. Generating text from supplied material does not establish facts. Ask who will be responsible for an error: wherever the answer is you, you must retain control of the process and the decision.
Take it to the field
Before each use, name the task given to the tool and the human check planned. If you cannot explain how to verify the result, change the method. Time saved counts only after that check.
Your turn
Have an AI system transcribe ten minutes of a real interview with accents, local names and background noise. Correct it against the recording. Count the errors and identify those that would be serious if published.