Towards responsible AI for local journalism

This international project investigates how AI applications can support local news media. The intent is to help enable local news media to better deal with the economic issues they face while meeting their socio-ethical responsibilities.

About the project

A major challenge facing journalism today lies in the collapse of local news provision. This is having serious consequences for local communities and, more broadly, for democratic societies.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications for various activities along the news value chain can offer opportunities for local media to better cope with their many challenges.

However, AI applications in local journalism should be also responsible, i.e. they should not only increase economic efficiency, but contribute to local media’s democratic role in society by adhering to professional values and ethical standards.

Funding initiative

This research project is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. The Foundation is Germany‘s largest private research funder and is neither a corporate foundation nor affiliated with the Volkswagen company. It provides funds only to academic institutions. The overall funding volume is around 150 million euros per year.

The Foundation’s Artificial Intelligence and the Society of the Future initiative focuses on joint, integrative research approaches. Against the background of the emerging developments in the field of AI, supported projects deal with the development of new perspectives and insights which will shape the future of society and technology.

The overall aim is to enable novel project constellations and interdisciplinary cooperations through a shift in thinking towards new perspectives and solutions as well as a necessary expansion of the respective range of methods.

Volkswagen Stiftung