TL;DR: By treating AI as a biased actor rather than a tool shaped by human choices, we risk ignoring more fundamental sources of bias within journalism itself. Editorial independence lies in how we manage tools, not which ones we use.

Might AI challenge editorial independence? It’s a suggestion made in some guidance on AI — and I think a flawed one.

Why? Let me count the ways. The first problem is that it contributes to a misunderstanding of how AI works. The second is that it reinforces a potentially superficial understanding of editorial independence and objectivity. But the main danger is it distracts from the broader problems of bias and independence in our own newsrooms.

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