Thomson Reuters CEO: AI will not replace journalists

Thomson Reuters CEO Steve Hasker was interviewed by the Toronto Star about his career and the future of technology in journalism.

Here is an excerpt:

Does that mean their jobs may be at risk?
We believe professionals will not be replaced by AI but might be by people using AI. We see it as a supplement and accelerant to the work they do, rather than a substitute. One of our core principles is that a human being must take accountability for each piece of news, so we ensure that we’ve got a human in the loop in any of our news stories, and that has been our experience in each of those professions.
How will their work change in the coming years?
We think within three to five years every journalist will be using an AI assistant to help them do research, verify facts, generate story ideas, and create first drafts. The same goes for lawyers, tax, audit and accounting professionals, maybe even people like me.

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.