Research on Ethical Risks and Governance Mechanisms in AI-Assisted News Production

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is deeply integrated into the entire process of news planning, gathering, editing, and distribution. The application of technologies such as automated writing, algorithmic recommendation, and deep synthesis continues to expand, improving news production efficiency while constantly challenging the core principles of journalistic professionalism. This paper, based on ethics and journalistic professionalism, systematically examines the ethical risks of AI-assisted news production through a combination of case analysis, literature review, and comparative research. It analyzes the technological, economic, and institutional motivations behind these risks and proposes a layered and collaborative governance solution based on domestic and international governance practices. The study finds that AI-assisted news production faces multiple risks, including the erosion of factual accuracy, the solidification of algorithmic bias, the ambiguity of responsible parties, and the polarization of the public communication sphere. The probabilistic generation logic of technology, the profit-driven nature of the traffic economy, and the lag in existing laws and regulations collectively constitute the root causes of these risks. Building a responsible AI news governance system requires coordinated efforts at three levels: macro-level institutional regulation, meso-level organizational self-discipline, and micro-level literacy cultivation. This will propel the news industry from anxieties about technological substitution to a virtuous cycle of human-machine collaborative evolution.