The Future of Journalism Is Conversational: Insights from AI Expert Nikita Roy
AI-created, human-edited.
In a thought-provoking episode of Intelligent Machines, hosts Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau welcomed Nikita Roy, founder and CEO of Newsroom Robots Lab—an AI training and advisory firm for media organizations incubated at Harvard. The conversation explored the evolving relationship between artificial intelligence and journalism, diving deep into how newsrooms are adapting to this technological shift.
Roy, who transitioned from data science to journalism, has positioned herself at the intersection of these fields. Through Newsroom Robots Lab, she helps newsrooms upskill their journalists on AI implementation while building products that enhance journalistic work rather than replace it.
"The newsrooms are going to look different," Roy acknowledged during the discussion. "But at the end of the day, journalism is making sense of information and holding power to account."
When asked about intelligent applications of AI in newsrooms, Roy highlighted investigative journalism as an area where AI augmentation truly shines. She shared a compelling example from a small Norwegian newsroom, iTromso, where AI tools help journalists process municipal documents for their public housing beat. This implementation reduced document review time from two hours daily to just 20 minutes, allowing even summer interns to break five front-page stories in their first week.
The hosts and Roy also discussed problematic implementations, particularly AI-generated articles with artificial bylines or avatars. "Don't assign bylines to something that doesn't exist," Roy emphasized, expressing concern about publications creating AI avatars that pretend to be human journalists—especially when these avatars become the publication's only examples of diversity.
One of the most compelling segments of the conversation centered on returning to first principles. Rather than simply bolting AI onto existing practices, Roy suggested the industry needs to reconsider journalism's fundamental purpose in an AI-powered information ecosystem.
"If we were inventing journalism today, what would we keep and what would we leave behind?" she asked. This question echoes previous technological transitions in media history, from print to radio and beyond.
Jeff Jarvis challenged traditional notions of storytelling as journalism's primary value, suggesting instead that journalism's core functions include connecting people, facilitating information sharing, and helping communities take action.
Roy predicted that conversational interaction will define the future of news consumption. Her Neiman Lab prediction—"In 2025, we'll not just read the news, we are going to be talking to it and it will talk back to us"—envisions a world where audiences can query news in a personalized, interactive manner.
This vision aligns with Roy's upcoming project: an AI version of herself trained on all her podcast episodes, writings, and talks that people can converse with about AI journalism topics.
The panel debated whether average news consumers truly want such interactive engagement. Leo Laporte expressed skepticism, suggesting many prefer passive consumption, while Roy countered that personalized, conversational AI helps audiences better understand complex topics at their own pace.
The discussion highlighted niche journalism as particularly well-positioned to thrive in this new landscape. Roy shared her own experience creating a newsroom for the Indian diaspora, noting that specialized journalists develop trust and personal connections with their audiences that AI cannot easily replicate.
However, with the proliferation of niche sources, new AI tools like Convergence AI are already emerging to aggregate information across these specialized outlets, potentially creating personalized news briefings from diverse viewpoints.
Despite the technological possibilities, the panel agreed that human journalists remain irreplaceable for certain core functions. Paris Martineau emphasized the importance of source cultivation, analytical ability, and story sense—the "red string" that connects seemingly unrelated pieces of information into meaningful narratives.
"I don't think that you're going to have a world where an AI agent is going to be able to write an investigative piece on the finances of Elon Musk," Martineau noted, highlighting the continued importance of human judgment.
As newsrooms navigate this technological transformation, the industry remains divided between AI enthusiasts and skeptics. Roy likened AI to a utility like electricity rather than a platform like social media—something that will become ubiquitous whether we like it or not.
The challenge for journalism isn't simply incorporating AI tools but fundamentally rethinking what value journalists provide in a world where machines can generate content at scale. As Roy concluded, "It's not just using AI to create AI-generated articles... it's how do we help people make sense of information."
For more insights on the intersection of AI and journalism, check out Roy's podcast, "Newsroom Robots: The AI in Journalism Podcast," available at newsroomrobots.com and on all podcast platforms.
