AI bots can replace journalists, claims German publisher Axel Springer

German media group's CEO Axel Springer said that artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT can replace journalists.

The CEO made the statement was the media organisation aimed at boosting revenue at German newspapers Bild and Die Welt and entering the transition phase to become a “purely digital media company”.

The organisation said that they will have layoffs because AI and automation will make many jobs of journalists redundant. “Artificial intelligence has the potential to make independent journalism better than it ever was – or simply replace it,” said CEO Mathias Doepfner in an internal letter sent to employees.

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AI tools like the ChatGPT promise to bring a “revolution” in information, Doepfner said, and would soon perform better than human journalists at the “aggregation of information”.

“Understanding this change is essential to a publishing house’s future viability,” Doepfner said. “Only those who create the best original content will survive,” he added.

Axel Springer did not clarify the number of staff that can be laid off, but promised that they won't reduce the number of, “reporters, authors, or specialist editors”.

In the letter sent to staff, Doepfner said that the focus of media outlets must be on investigative journalism and creating original commentary while adding that journalists would be required to expose the “true motives” behind events.

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Axel Springer is not the first in the line of news publishers who are planning to use AI for content creation. BuzzFeed announced in January that it is planning to use artificial intelligence to “enhance” its content as well as online quizzes.

The publishers of the UK's Daily Express and Daily Mirror newspapers are also exploring how AI can be used and establishing a working group to look at “the potential and limitations of machine-learning such as ChatGPT”, said the group’s chief executive.

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