Introduction to AI journalism: Framework and ontology of the trans-domain field for integrating AI into journalism

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being introduced to news routines. There is a need for theoretical framework to instruct the AI-adopting process and better integrate the cross-domain knowledge. This article attempts to explicate the major transformations AI brings to news systems, i.e., automated writing and personalization at scale. In light of the transformations, the tension between AI and human journalists has drawn attention. In order to unravel the accompanied conundrums, we propound a new notion – AI journalism, which is a trans-domain field of various categories, deriving from journalism automation. We propose to build AI journalism ontology that can manifest the emerging phenomenon in news ecosystem where intelligent machines and human journalists are coexisting. This article’s ultimate contribution is proffering a new framework and a transdisciplinary field to examine the integration of AI and associated technologies into journalism.