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Need some summer reading? This week\u2019s newsletter comes in the form of a book review. Not perhaps a suggestion for the sun lounger, but nevertheless one that every journalist should read. It\u2019s called AI in the News Room and it was written by Martin Schori<\/a>, former head of the AI Hub at Aftonbladet in Stockholm and now the co-founder of Hint Media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Martin is a journalist turned evangelist for AI in news and his advice is rooted in this newsroom experience. He provides tips for journalists, managers and AI specialists alike, but core to his guidance is the idea that AI is not just for the technically adept. \u201cDevelopment work actually needs those of us who are not tech nerds \u2013 the people who can formulate relevant problems, set boundaries, understand target groups (and editorial teams!), and think journalistically,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n This book functions as a practical guide for how to embed AI in your newsroom. I will leave you to buy the book<\/a> to read Martin\u2019s invaluable advice on this front. What I\u2019m interested in is his thinking about the philosophical and more challenging aspects of AI implementation<\/p>\n He is emphatic that AI is not just a tool to make our lives easier or more efficient. Instead it must be a catalyst for change. \u201cIf journalism wants to matter in an AI era, we have to stop protecting legacy workflows and start designing for people,\u201d he says. He adds that while the arrival of the internet disrupted the distribution of news, AI will primarily disrupt its production (while acknowledging that it will affect distribution too).<\/p>\n This feels important. Newsrooms felt they could largely leave the internet revolution to other people \u2013 mostly the \u201ckids\u201d in their digital teams \u2013 as it was a transformation was happening, or seemed to be happening, after they had done their work. This had a profound negative impact on the industry\u2019s digital fortunes. This time, though, the change will be anchored in the actual day-to-day activities of journalists and there is a recognition that this is definitely a revolution we can\u2019t sit out. I think this is a good thing.<\/p>\n Martin recognises that there are cultural hurdles to overcome. He wisely says that we should stop talking about AI as a thing in itself and instead talk about the products\/tools and value that it can produce because \u201cpeople are sick of hearing about AI\u201d.<\/p>\n As a veteran of newsroom transformation projects, to me this feels crucial. A decade ago I used to talk to my team about how the main part of our job was to be salespeople for digital and to always be selling. And of course the best salespeople don\u2019t flog products, they sell outcomes. For journalists the outcome they want will never be just \u201cusing AI\u201d, but offer them better stories and they\u2019ll bite your hand off.<\/p>\n This understanding of how newsrooms actually work runs through the book. Martin knows that each one contains groups of people with different attitudes to change. He names them \u201cThe excited\u201d, \u201cThe uninterested\u201d and \u201cThe opponents\u201d, three immediately understandable groups. To win over the second and third, or at least to stop them killing your ideas, Martin says the newsroom\u2019s middle managers are key: \u201cIn the end, people do what their boss says. So if you want change, don\u2019t forget the middle managers.\u201d<\/p>\n Martin is also keen to warn what we have to avoid. Notably, \u201cWe must do journalism that cannot be summarised in three points\u201d and \u201cWe need to get better at verifying all information, not just videos that could be deepfakes\u201d. Again these are areas where the newsroom must take responsibility. We can\u2019t just complain about it. \u201cIf audiences receive poor quality material,\u201d says Martin, \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter whether it came from a language mode, a Google search or from language skills picked up in fourth grade.\u201d<\/p>\n AI will cause mistakes, just as humans will always do. But Martin is emphatically not a pearl-clutcher but someone who believes AI can herald a positive transformation in journalism. An enduring theme of the book is that we should take this opportunity to rethink how we create value for our users. We haven\u2019t been good at this in the past, he says, and I agree.<\/p>\n Now there is an opportunity though. \u201cWe should use AI for tasks that require less cognitive effort, in order to free up time and attention for those that need more,\u201d he says. Later in the book he picks up on this theme: the idea that we need to reconnect with what journalism is all about. \u201cImagine if, thanks to AI, we could reclaim what perhaps disappeared first when journalism went digital: presence, curiosity, time to see patterns. And maybe to truly listen.\u201d<\/p>\n This sits alongside his observation that the volume era of journalism has led to an emphasis on writing as the heart of the profession when actually it should be reporting. And that\u2019s something that AI will never \u2013 we hope \u2013 be able to do.<\/p>\n All in all, this is both a practical and thoughtful guide to the revolution that will reshape our industry.<\/p>\n AI in the News Room is available from Martin\u2019s website<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n