A Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, Rosental Alves, says artificial intelligence will reshape global journalism more profoundly than the web, smartphones, or social media ever did.
He made the remarks at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism’s Amplify In-depth Media Conference and Awards, themed “WSCIJ@20: Investigative Reporting and the Future of Truth.”
Alves said the world is witnessing a “tsunami” of technological disruption, noting that while the digital revolution unfolded gradually, AI’s impact has been “astonishingly fast.”
“AI began its tsunami just three years ago with ChatGPT, and its speed has been extraordinary. I’m convinced AI will have a far greater impact on journalism than anything we experienced with the web or smartphones,” he said.
The journalism scholar warned that understanding AI’s future influence is harder than predicting earlier digital shifts. He described AI as “an agent capable of thinking and taking action,” adding that 2026 could mark the beginning of the “agentic AI era.”
Alves called for caution and preparedness, urging journalists to embrace new tools while recognizing their risks.
“We will witness exponential growth in disinformation, synthetic media, and the weaponization of AI by bad actors. We are entering an epistemic shock—a crisis of knowing what is real,” he said.
He warned that AI-generated images, audio, and video will challenge public trust, while search engines and social media may become overwhelmed with fabricated content.
He also highlighted the rise of the “liar’s dividend,” where bad actors dismiss genuine evidence by claiming it is AI-generated.
Despite the challenges, Alves said society will increasingly rely on journalists to “navigate oceans of lies and illusions.”
He stressed that while fact-checkers remain essential, the next era belongs to investigative journalists capable of uncovering who creates misinformation and why.
“The same technology that fuels chaos also offers the best tools to counter it. Journalists must be AI-literate to survive this new phase of the digital revolution,” he said.
Alves urged newsrooms to strengthen investigative capacity, warning that the coming years will define journalism’s ability to defend truth in an age of synthetic deception.
