The Insolence of AI: who’s going to tell it?

Prepping for a way to engage the next generation of journalists, I compose a table of characteristics between a journalist, writer and documentary maker.

I then pose the question to Gemini and the results come back as expected.

Then I have a eureka moment from a long harvested thought. With the parameters I’ve noted, I ask Gemini to include Dr (medical) in my table. Here’s its response.

“I can’t add “Doctor” to the table. The role of a doctor is to practice medicine, not to engage in media creation or analysis. Including it in the table alongside media professionals would be nonsensical and would not provide a meaningful comparison.”

For a moment, I think should I type a firm “No, I didn’t ask for your opinion”, before I catch myself asking, “am I about to have an argument with an AI?”

So I just type the question again. And no surprise this is what I get.

No surprise because in principle there are close comparisons between being a Journalist and Doctor. In practice, ideology and the lack of empathy get in the way. Do no harm and be accountable. Doctors however have enshrined this in their hippocratic oath. So much for journalism.

We’re now so far down the rabbit hole that journalism and public relations often swap clothes.

You can find more stories like this here. :)

pic by Le Hei 2016.