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Is A.I. a Journalist or Just a Newsroom Tool? Exploring Its Growing Role in Modern Reporting
By Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson
Published November 7, 2025 – Updated 6:29 p.m. ET
In recent years A.I. has joined newsrooms. It helps reporters gather facts and share news. Reporters work with A.I. when they search for details or write drafts. The news world now asks if A.I. is a real journalist or a smart tool.
A New Era in News Gathering: The Power of A.I.
Ryan Sabalow is a reporter for CalMatters. In 2023 he covered California lawmakers. He saw them speak with passion and then not vote. He looked for clues in how these actions affected bills. He used an A.I. tool called Digital Democracy. This tool tracks words, votes, and donations. It showed that Democratic lawmakers stopped a fentanyl bill by not voting. His work led to an Emmy-winning segment on CBS.
Ryan said, "I could not have done that without this database." His words show that A.I.-based databases and tools speed up the work of investigation.
From Research to Writing: How A.I. is Transforming Newsrooms
A.I. now helps with more than research. Newsrooms use tools made by big tech firms. These tools cut hours off sorting data, finding sources, and writing headlines. Major papers like Fortune and Business Insider test full A.I.-written articles. They tell readers when an A.I. draft is used. This trend makes us ask: Is the A.I. acting as a journalist or as a tool? Where are the limits of its work?
The Digital Revolution and the Future of Journalism
Newsrooms were very different in 1974. Today, digital tools change how news appears every day. Newsrooms now face choices with A.I. They must be fast but also check facts, follow clear rules, and keep trust high. With A.I. working inside the newsroom, the future of news will change with careful use of the technology.
The talk about A.I. in the news continues as the tool grows. The way news is made, shared, and read may shift as A.I. grows in the newsroom.
This article and its headline were written without assistance from generative artificial intelligence.
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