Artificial Intelligence is growing with leaps and bounds, with its impact being felt across multiple sectors. A fascinating and highly informative workshop was organized at the University of Sheffield on “AI for society: The implication of ChatGPT”.

It was hosted by the Data, Algorithms and AI in Society hub, the Digital Society Network. Dr Jingrong Tong, senior lecturer in Digital News Cultures, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Lead, Department of Journalism Studies, University of Sheffield, was the coordinator.

I began my online presentation by drawing upon the knowledge of Eastern philosophy, specifically the Bhagavad Gita, to put the spotlight on right and wrong. Hermeneutics was employed.

I stressed that Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven chatbots, including ChatGPT, has brought to the fore urgent and pressing issues like ethical practices in this age of algorithms in newsrooms.

Automation has speeded up the newsroom workflow and improved the turnaround time for news output. That alone may not be enough to warmly embrace this rapidly emerging chatbot technology.

German magazine Die Aktuelle ran an interview of formula one icon Michael Schumacher who had suffered a major ski accident. It later transpired that the ‘interview’ was the result of a conversation generated by an AI chatbot of Character.ai

Reflection on ethics and journalism is distinctly out of tune with the temper of our utilitarian times (Sanders, 2004). Of course, journalists are often under pressure, or at the very least perceived pressure, from others, such as editors, to stretch ethical elasticity to its limits and sometimes beyond (Frost, 2016).

During my presentation, I also broached upon the subject of sentience which may become a major issue in the future.

I was part of the session in which two of my colleagues – Ms Pallavi Bansal and Dr Anvesha Sharma – too made their brilliant, offline, presentation on ChatGPT: A new AI tool with old Global South biases.