The Paris Charter on AI and Journalism was officially launched at the Paris Peace Forum on November 10. The first of its kind, it defines ethics and principles that journalists, newsrooms and media outlets around the world will be able to appropriate and apply in their work with artificial intelligence. It was created by a commission initiated by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and chaired by journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa.
Author: Communications Gfmd | 15. November 2023
In this session, RSF, together with 20 key partners and a 31-member international committee, unveiled the AI Charter in Media, a set of principles defining rights and duties for news professionals in the AI era.
Watch the recording of the event here:
The text of the Charter is available in English and French.
Maria Ressa, the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, called on all media and journalism professionals to commit to the AI Charter in Media.
“Technological innovation doesn’t inherently lead to progress: it must be steered by ethics to truly benefit humanity. To safeguard the right to information, journalists and news organisations must join forces to ensure ethics guide the governance and use of the most transformative technology of our time. The Paris Charter on AI and Journalism is a significant step towards this goal,” she stated.
In response to the turmoil that AI has created in the news and information arena, the Charter defines ten key principles for safeguarding the integrity of information and preserving journalism’s social role. Inter alia, the core principles state:
Ethics must govern technological choices within the media;
Human agency must remain central in editorial decisions;
The media must help society to distinguish between authentic and synthetic content with confidence;
The media must participate in global AI governance and defend the viability of journalism when negotiating with tech companies.
“It is important to take these principles as a framework: they are not the endpoint, but the starting point. And then to work with our communities to consult on what are the real problems that they have and how they can apply this in the development and usage of the AI tools,” said Mira Milosevic, GFMD’s Executive Director.
GFMD will use its position in the working group to put forward voices and evidence from members and engage our community on the subject through the next round of consultation on principles and information integrity. We welcome members who wish to contribute to this initiative by emailing helpdesk-impact@gfmd.info.
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