As AI seemingly seeps into every area of consumers lives, especially media, its now vital to find proper ways to engage with it.AI-generated media contentcan often further stereotypesor only push user-frequented content about marginalized communities. However, experts say a few tools can be used in order to benefit consumers and increase their news consumption.In the journalism sphere, much of the conversation is centered around generative AIthe type of AI which can create new content after consuming existing data and studying it. Its counterpart, predictive AI, is more often used in the medical and business fields.Dr. Michael Spikes, a lecturer and director for Northwestern MedillsTeach for Chicago Journalism Program, said generative AI is often being used in journalism to simply create content. These creations dont use any original content and just regurgitate information similar to what theyve consumed.There are also entire websitessometimes called pink slime news siteswhich can look like regular news sites, but are filled with content often skewed in favor of one party or person running for office. This can also happen in the newsletter space, where local reporting is scaled back and instead replaced with AI generated sources.Spikes has spent more than 15 years working in topics around media literacy education. Photo courtesy of Michael SpikesI think, with all technology, theres a little bit of good and a little bit of the not so good, Spikes said.In terms of how generative AI could be used to promote accurate information, Spikes said algorithmic sources could potentially point readers to information they didnt know about before. An algorithm can use demographics like location or interests to help find content with angles that interest that specific reader.Also, he said AI tools could help reporters with large-scale investigations by synthesizing large amounts of data and finding trends. As with all AI content, that data still needs to be independently verified.For minority communities who are often left behind by mainstream media coverage, Spikes said algorithms can potentially point people towards content that they havent seen before. However, some of this content may not have the nuance and distinction needed to educate people properly.Nowadays, because we are confronted as consumers with so much content, I think were losing the ability to make distinctions [about] what makes journalism, he said.People should focus on media literacy and the skills needed to decipher whats real journalism, Spikes said. Communities of all demographics need to educate themselves on how to find authentic sources with real reporting, and not just take content at face value.People are being left behind even more because theyre not getting that kind of educationthe platforms are not helping them do that, he said. Theyre just feeding them tons of content.This can and should also be used when accessing new information via algorithms. For example, Spikes said YouTube pages about Chicago news will often have their South Side tab as just mostly about violence or other stereotypes. He said often what audiences are seeking out will affect algorithms, so people also need to be intentionally seeking out diverse news.AI keeps growingseemingly every search engine or app nowadays boasts an AI feature for use, with many requiring a manual opt-out. Spikes said he thinks itll keep being subtly introduced into peoples media ecosystems, and as it does, he wants people to have places to go for content they know they can trust.I would encourage people todevelop and cultivate trusted sources of information, especially information youre going to use to take action, he said. People should look for organizations that have sets of practices and ethics.Spikes said readers can vet an information source by determining if a publication has an editingchainby looking for a masthead, for examplesignifying that multiple individuals approved the content. Also, its important to follow organizations who make it clear to their audiences when they use AI tools, and look for ones who use it not to make content, but for other areas like data analysis.Consumers can use these tools in order to ask themselves what theyre missing, Spikes said. They can also potentially use AI to help them generate questions about what they may be missing in their news consumption.I think generative AI is good at looking at large bundles of content and saying, Here are themes that I see, he said. I dont think that can happen in the process of writing the content. But I think overall, doing an analysis of it, that can help publishers.This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.The post Generative AI in journalism: Preventing harm and enhancing news consumption appeared first on News Is Out.