ChatGPT is fun but cannot predict the future of journalism, media industry

By Dr. Merja Myllylahti

Senior Lecturer and Co-Director of Journalism, Media, and Democracy (JMAD) Research Center

Auckland University of Technology (AUT)

Auckland, New Zealand

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As a university researcher and lecturer in journalism, I wonder how future journalists will use ChatGPT, and will they use it wisely? Is it going to be a viable tool? I also worry about how we know if university assignments are written by students. I keep asking: How are journalism and the media going to be shaped by machines in the future?

I know I am not the only one wondering these things. There are millions of others doing exactly the same. Like many others, I ran my own little experiment with ChatGPT and put a few questions about journalism and the media industry into it.

ChatGPT provides somes interesting insights, though it is not possible to get answers to every question.

First, I asked the chatbot a general question: How is the newspaper industry making money in 2023?

It answered that, as "an AI language model, I cannot predict the future with certainty." Well, no one can.

However, it offered "some possible ways in which the newspaper industry may be making money in 2023." It listed sources of revenue including digital subscriptions, advertising, partnerships and collaboration, events and conferences, and crowdfunding.

It also offered an overall comment: "The newspaper industry is likely to continue experimenting with new business models and revenue streams to adapt to changing consumer behaviour and technological innovations."

Sure, we agree.

I further prompted it by asking what the major threats for news publishers in 2023 are. In seconds, it told me that in 2023, publishers "will need to navigate these and other challenges to remain relevant and sustainable in an increasingly competitive and complex media landscape."

I then asked about the future of the print newspaper industry. The machine advised that, "overall, the future of print newspapers is uncertain" and that "while it is possible that print newspapers may decline or even disappear in the future, it is also possible that they may continue to exist in a smaller capacity, catering to a niche audience."

OK, I think we agree.

I then put a more specific question: How much profit did The New York Times make in 2022?

The answer was somewhat surprising: "I'm sorry, but as an AI language model, I do not have access to up-to-date financial information. My training only goes up until September 2021, and even if I did have access to current information, it would be unethical for me to provide confidential financial data without proper authorisation."

I am surprised that it is considering the ethics of its answers.

Furthermore, I asked whether the news industry should invest in podcasts as many news publishers are increasing their expenditure on them. The latest Reuters report shows 72% of publishers are planning to put more resources into podcasts and digital audio.

The chatbot listed the pros and cons of investing in podcasts, and then gave an overall statement: "While podcasts can provide significant benefits in terms of audience engagement and revenue diversification, they require a significant investment of resources and may not be the right fit for every news publisher."

Yes, that is obvious.

Experimenting with ChatGTP is fun, and it does give you some relevant answers and pointers. Where it seems to fail is to give very specific information. Journalists should use it carefully and check more relevant sources to their inquiries. The bot has obvious pitfalls as the NYT example demonstrates. And it is not a prediction tool, for sure, so don't ask it about the future of journalism, the media industry, or print newspapers.

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About Dr. Merja Myllylahti

Dr. Merja Myllylahti is a senior lecturer and co-director of the Journalism, Media, and Democracy (JMAD) Research Center at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and project manager at AUT's Research Centre for Journalism, Media, and Democracy in Auckland, New Zealand. She can be reached at ‎[email protected] or @Myllyme.

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