AI becomes newsroom staple in Philippine media, PIDS study shows

Use of artificial intelligence expands across reporting and editing while prompting concerns over revenue, trust, and content ownership.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a regular part of newsroom operations in the Philippines, helping journalists work faster but also raising new concerns over misinformation, lost website traffic, and the future of news as a business.

A study by state-sponsored think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) found that AI tools are already being used for transcription, editing, fact checking, research, and audience analytics, with no reported AI-related job losses among participating organizations. Instead, the technology is largely being used to assist journalists and editors rather than replace them.

But the same technology is also creating new challenges. Researchers warned that AI-generated content can contain errors and biases, making it harder for audiences to tell the difference between credible reporting and fabricated or manipulated information.

The study also highlighted growing pressure on media companies’ revenues. As AI platforms increasingly provide users with direct answers and summaries, fewer people may click through to original news websites, threatening advertising and subscription income that many organizations rely on to fund reporting.

Researchers likewise raised concerns about content scraping, where journalistic work is used to train AI systems without authorization, attribution, or compensation. They suggested exploring policies that would require technology companies to compensate media organizations when their content helps power AI services, similar to measures being considered overseas.

The study found that only a limited number of Philippine media organizations currently have formal AI policies in place, prompting calls for stronger governance, better media literacy, greater platform accountability, and closer coordination among government, technology firms, news organizations, academe, and civil society groups.

Jeremaiah Opiniano of the University of Santo Tomas Department of Journalism said AI has become a useful newsroom tool, particularly for tasks such as transcription and editing, but warned that speed and convenience should not replace the creativity, critical thinking, reporting depth, and editorial judgment that journalism requires.

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