Growing reliance on AI news summaries raises questions over accuracy, media bias
Washington: The use of artificial intelligence to summarise news has expanded rapidly which has reshaped how readers consume and interpret daily information. Major technology companies have introduced AI-powered summaries across platforms, including tools that analyse scanned newspaper clippings and condensed search results. These are positioned as quicker alternatives to traditional news reading.
Earlier this year, a study highlighted by The Guardian warned that AI-generated summaries could have a “devastating impact” on digital news outlets, citing evidence of up to an 80 per cent drop in click-through traffic as readers increasingly rely on AI-generated answers instead of visiting original news websites.
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Beyond economic consequences, experts have raised alarms about factual accuracy and embedded bias. Tim Graham, Director of Media Analysis at the US-based Media Research Center, recently argued that AI news summaries cannot be fully accurate because they depend on source material that may itself be biased, even if such sources are categorised as credible by AI systems. Speaking on the programme No Spin News with American journalist Bill O’Reilly, Graham said this limitation applies across platforms, including Grok, ChatGPT and Gemini.
Echoing these concerns, media scholar Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee, professor at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication in Dhenkanal, told Hinduatan Times that current AI systems lack the contextual understanding and common sense required to identify and filter bias. He further claimed that artificial intelligence reflects the opinions encoded in its training data. It cannot independently identify prejudice or narrative.
Dr Chatterjee stresses that discerning bias is a human responsibility that requires awareness, education, and critical engagement with news content. He points out that media bias can result from either deliberate influence or unintentional errors, and that while not all media organizations are biased, the risk is always there.
To address these challenges, while some readers and institutions are turning to analytical tools designed to assess media bias, platforms such as AllSides are providing comparative analysis of news outlets across ideological spectrums.
In the United States, the White House has also launched an online portal aimed at tracking media bias and misinformation. The platform catalogues what it describes as false or misleading reports, maintains a public list of repeat offenders.
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Rupee crashes 33 paise to fresh record low of 94.29 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee crashed 33 paise to a fresh all-time low of 94.29 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, weighed down by elevated oil prices and a stronger greenback amid no breakthrough in the West Asia conflict.
Heavy sell-off in domestic equity markets and sustained FII outflows put further pressure on the local unit, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 94.18 and slipped further to 94.29 against the greenback, down 33 paise from its previous close.
The rupee slumped 20 paise to close at a record low of 93.96 against the US dollar on Wednesday. Stock, forex, commodity, and bullion markets remained closed on Thursday on account of Ram Navami.
"With Brent oil prices again going past USD 105.75 per barrel, and the dollar index rising towards 100, the rupee opened weak," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.08 per cent higher at 99.67.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose overnight before easing towards the end, down 0.78 per cent at USD 107.1 per barrel in futures trade.
"Brent oil was up to USD 107.50 per barrel but fell after US President Donald Trump postponed strikes on Iranian power plants by 10 days," Bhansali added.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex tumbled 926.92 points to 74,346.53 in morning trade, while Nifty was down 280.95 points to 23,025.50.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,805.37 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
