Opinion | AI is forcing journalism to rediscover what the profession actually does
We don’t trust journalists because they type sentences; we trust journalists because they verify the truth
But this debate begins with a mistaken assumption: that journalism earns trust because journalists physically write the sentences themselves.
That has never been the reason the public trusts journalists. Readers trust journalism because someone has taken responsibility for determining whether the information they are publishing is true.
Consider an architect. Modern buildings are designed with software such as AutoCAD, which generates precise drawings and structural models. We do not trust a building because the architect hand-drew every line. We trust it because a trained professional knows whether the structure will stand. The software produces the plans; the architect verifies the reality.
Journalism works the same way. Writing is the documentation. Verification is the profession.
AI can now generate fluent language instantly. It can produce summaries, explanations and even entire articles. But what it cannot do is determine whether a claim is factually true. AI systems generate text by predicting patterns in language, not by establishing facts.