Jordan Media Institute - Amman
As the application of highly advanced technologies continues to accelerate, one Jordan Media Institute (JMI) MA student tackled the emerging topic of robot journalism in Jordan. Titled “The Extent of Jordanian Media’s Awareness of Robot Journalism and its Ethical and Professional Challenges,“ Lana Hussein’s thesis aimed to determine the level of awareness exhibited among Jordanian journalists on the concept of robot journalism, how it works, and what are the topics most associated with its application including the pros and cons of its widespread use
Hussein presented the results of her study to a panel of 4 JMI professors, Dr. Sakher Al Khasawneh, Dr. Abdel Hakim Alhusbani, Dr. Salim Abdul Rahim, and Dr. Baha AlKhasawneh. Her findings showed a high level of awareness among journalists about the concept of Robot Journalism, and that its use is most commonly used in crime reports and their various statistics.
The study also revealed that among the many challenges posed by the use of Robot Journalism is the inability of this artificially intelligent technology to determine the accuracy (or veracity) of the input it receives. This also gave rise to several ethical challenges most critical of which is the inability to hold artificially intelligent technologies legally or morally accountable. Artificial Intelligence cannot differentiate whether the information it integrates is true or false making the tool or program used in robot journalism exempt from responsibility, as it is not a natural person and does not have consciousness, nor is it possible to sentence it to prison or punish it.
The panel of professors stressed the importance this study’s examination of technological and social developments and commended Hussein for measuring usage of this technology among journalists and its impact on print journalism, as well as the media and information ecosystem in the twenty-first century.
The study applied descriptive data methods to a sample group of 350 Jordanian journalists, who were administered a survey both - electronically and on paper.
To learn more about this study, or to get updates from Jordan Media Institute, you can get in touch via email info@jmi.edu. Note that the Institute has begun accepting online applications to join the Masters program in Journalism and New Media for the 2021/2022 academic year. Applications will be accepted until July 1st, 2021.