The persistent buzz around artificial intelligence is proving to be more than just speculation; it is a potent force actively reorganizing the priorities, practices, and public perception of journalism. According to new research, this “hype” is not a superficial phenomenon but a powerful driver of material change, compelling news organizations to rethink their operations, reallocate scarce resources, and confront fundamental questions about the future of the profession in an increasingly automated world.
This transformation, described by scholars as an “AI turn,” is creating tangible effects for news outlets and working journalists. A study co-authored by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Oregon, and the University of the Philippines provides a new framework for understanding how this hype functions, breaking it down into five distinct categories that influence everything from newsroom investment to the industry’s collective response. As newsrooms rush to form partnerships with technology firms and labor unions push for protections against misuse, the industry is grappling with the profound implications of AI, which has already moved from a futuristic concept to a present-day reality.
Attention and Priorities
The first and most visible impact of AI hype is its power to command attention. Called “attentional hype,” this effect creates a pervasive sense that artificial intelligence is a critical, industry-defining issue that demands immediate and serious consideration. It pressures news organizations to take a stance, either by embracing AI to appear forward-thinking and innovative or by positioning themselves as staunch defenders of traditional journalistic values. This initial wave of hype forces the conversation, making AI an unavoidable topic in strategic meetings, industry conferences, and news coverage itself.
This intense focus is driven by a mixture of opportunity and anxiety. On one hand, news outlets see the potential for AI to create efficiencies and new forms of storytelling in a financially strained industry. On the other, there is a palpable fear of being left behind. This dynamic ensures that AI is no longer a niche technological subject but a central strategic concern that consumes significant cognitive and conversational bandwidth within news organizations, setting the stage for more concrete actions and investments.
Redirecting Newsroom Resources
Once AI has captured the industry’s attention, “orientational hype” begins to steer the allocation of tangible assets, including money, staff, and time. This is where the abstract buzz translates into material decisions. Newsrooms start redirecting their limited budgets toward specific AI-powered tools, products, and training programs. This may involve subscribing to new software, hiring staff with data science skills, or dedicating teams to experiment with generative AI for tasks like creating story drafts or outlines.
These decisions are often made at the expense of other priorities. For an industry constantly challenged to do more with less, investing in AI infrastructure can mean divesting from other areas, such as investigative reporting teams or beat specializations. Furthermore, this redirection of resources often increases journalism’s dependency on a handful of major technology companies that develop and control the core AI models. This creates a risk of “lock-in,” where news organizations become tethered to the platforms’ pricing, priorities, and potential biases, limiting their autonomy. The hype, therefore, doesn’t just suggest new tools; it actively reshapes the economic and technological foundations of the news business.
Crafting the Public Narrative
The way journalists and news organizations communicate about AI to the public is another powerful manifestation of hype. This “signaling hype” influences public perception through both the reporting on AI and the strategic messaging around an organization’s own use of the technology. News coverage often reinforces narratives of technological inevitability and progress, framing AI as an unstoppable force of innovation. Simultaneously, when news outlets adopt AI tools, they often publicize these efforts as a signal of their own relevance and modernity.
This signaling has profound implications for how audiences perceive the news. Some technologists envision a future where AI makes news a “two-way conversation,” allowing for hyper-personalization where content adapts to a user’s interests and questions in real time. Instead of a static article, a reader could ask for more background, a different angle, or even a summary in a different format, fostering personalization through participation, not just prediction. However, this vision coexists with the risk of eroding trust. As AI-generated content floods the web, the value of journalism may shift from the rapid production of information to its careful curation, verification, and contextualization, placing an even greater premium on accountability and provenance.
Forging New Alliances and Defenses
Beyond individual newsrooms, “mobilizing hype” drives collective action across the industry. It serves as a catalyst for forming new partnerships, establishing professional standards, and creating defensive measures. This can be seen in the flurry of deals between major publishers and AI developers, where news organizations provide content to train large language models in exchange for licensing fees and access to technology. These alliances represent a strategic bet that collaboration is more beneficial than opposition.
At the same time, this hype energizes a protective response. Journalism unions and professional societies are actively working to develop ethical codes and contractual safeguards to protect workers and journalistic integrity from the potential misuses of AI. These groups are concerned with issues like automated surveillance of journalists, the potential for AI to devalue human labor, and the need for transparency in how AI is used to generate content. This dual movement—one toward partnership and another toward protection—shows how hype forces the industry to organize and build new institutional frameworks to manage the technology’s integration.
Redefining the Journalist’s Role
Perhaps the most profound impact of AI hype is how it forces journalists to reconsider their own professional identities and values. This “reflexive hype” prompts a deep and sometimes uncomfortable reevaluation of what skills remain uniquely human in an age of advanced automation. As AI tools become capable of conducting research, summarizing information, and even writing coherent drafts, journalists are left to grapple with their core purpose and value.
This introspection is leading to a greater emphasis on skills that machines cannot easily replicate: critical thinking, ethical judgment, nuanced storytelling, source-building, and accountability. The industry is beginning to recognize that while AI can multiply what already exists, it cannot decide what *deserves* to exist. That responsibility remains human. The future role of the journalist may be less about the mechanical production of text and more about verifying, contextualizing, and curating information. In this emerging landscape, the byline on a story becomes more than just a credit; it is a line of accountability, a signal that a human, not a machine, stands behind the integrity of the work.