HELENA — In a world where algorithms drive social media, and AI can generate realistic photos and videos, it has caused doubt and distrust for even our youngest generations.
MTN’s Madelyn Heath hosted a mini town hall with Mr. Scruggs' journalism class at Helena High to share how AI can be used as a tool in the news while still holding journalists accountable.
“My biggest concern is people believing it and AI just being used for the wrong reasons, like false news,” junior Helena High student Cora Jeffers said.
Many students shared that they thought almost all articles were written by AI these days. Now, while we can't speak for every news outlet, at the Montana Television Network, all content is written by a journalist. Some reporters do use AI to assist their workflow, such as formatting their web articles so that they are grammatically correct.
Jeffers shared, “It is a little bit more comforting to know they might not use AI as much as I thought they would.”
Students also learned the importance of fact-checking in our evolving world.
Brayden Spurzem, a sophomore at Helena High, said, “I get kind of concerned with the quantity over quality piece because it feels like AI just crams a lot of untrue information into a large volume of sources.”
Students at Helena High are blocked on their computers from using AI software, but as an exercise, students used ChatGPT to create an article about something that had not happened yet.
“If this hasn’t even happened yet and AI can just generate for you, I question its accuracy,” Spurzem said.
The students said they had big concerns when the AI wrote in quotes and a whole narrative of something that hadn’t taken place yet.
Students and their teacher shared that they understand that AI can be a useful tool, but worry about its interference with human connection.
“A big part of me wants to see AI go away. I think it's ruining interpersonal connections between people,” Spurzem added.
Especially when it comes to interviews and capturing the stories of those who often go untold. Journalism teacher Roger Scruggs said, “My focus mostly in all of my classes that I teach is about the perspective and that you have to hear these different perspectives instead of just one opinion, and you can kind of narrate AI to what you want to believe, and I think that is dangerous.”
After meeting with the students for over an hour, MTN gained a better perspective on how their generation views AI, and they got a better idea about what goes into our local journalism in Montana.
Jeffers said, “It gave us a new window to see what journalism really is.”
Each year, Scripps hosts National News Literacy Week with the goal of providing literacy education that equips students with the tools to more critically evaluate what information to trust, believe, share, and base their decisions on.
