AI AND YOUR JOB · CHECKED OCT 2026
Will AI replace journalists?
No, but it is reshaping the newsroom around reporters. AI already transcribes interviews and cleans up copy, and wire services have automated routine earnings stories for a decade, yet the AP still bans AI from writing publishable stories and treats its output as unvetted. BLS expects reporter jobs to fall 6% from 2025 to 2035, mostly because of shrinking ad revenue, with about 3,400 openings a year.
- Tasks from the US Labor Department's O*NET
- Pay and outlook from BLS
- 13 sources
AI EXPOSURE TODAY
Medium
AI does 2 and helps with 5 of 14 core tasks. 7 are still human.
- AI does it (2)
- AI helps (5)
- Still human (7)
Task by task: what AI can do today
The core tasks of the job, from the US Labor Department's O*NET profile (27-3023.00). Each verdict links to its evidence.
| Task | Verdict | Tools doing it | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turn interview recordings and notes into text and pick out the key facts and quotes | AI does this today | Otter.ai, Rev, TurboScribe | Transcription apps like Otter turn a recorded interview into a speaker labeled transcript with a summary within minutes, though every quote you print still has to be checked against the tape because accents and crosstalk cause errors. [6][5] |
| Review copy and fix errors in grammar, punctuation and house style | AI does this today | Grammarly | Newsroom leaders rank copyediting help among the most important AI uses, and writing assistants catch most grammar and style slips, but a wrong name, figure or date still slips past them. [5][8] |
| Report news stories describing the background and details of events | AI helps, you check | Automated Insights Wordsmith | Templated stories built from data, like quarterly earnings, have been automated at the AP since 2014, but AP rules forbid using generative AI to write publishable stories, so reported news still comes from a journalist. [7][3] |
| Research a story's background to give complete and accurate information | AI helps, you check | Perplexity, Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | AI search tools pull together background with links to their sources fast, but the Chicago Sun-Times printed a reading list of books that do not exist, so every fact needs a real source behind it. [9][4] |
| Check reference materials, news archives and public records for facts | AI helps, you check | Perplexity, Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | AI can scan archives and long documents and point you to the right page, but AP guidance treats anything AI produces as unvetted source material you must trace back yourself. [3][9] |
| Write commentaries, columns or broadcast scripts | AI helps, you check | ChatGPT, Claude | AI can suggest outlines, headlines and alternate phrasings, but the AP bars it from creating publishable content and a freelancer lost his syndication deal after publishing undisclosed AI copy. [3][4] |
| Revise stories to meet editor approval or fit time and space limits | AI helps, you check | Grammarly | Rewrite tools can tighten a paragraph or change its tone in seconds, but deciding what to cut without losing the meaning or the fairness of a story is an editorial call. [8] |
| Gather information through interviews, observation and being on the scene | Still human | None | Showing up, asking the follow up question and seeing what happened with your own eyes is the core of reporting that no model can do. |
| Arrange interviews and keep relationships with credible sources | Still human | None | Sources talk to reporters they trust and who have protected them before, and that trust is built person to person over years. |
| Cover breaking news such as disasters, crimes and human interest stories | Still human | None | Breaking news means getting to a fire, a courthouse or a flooded street and confirming facts while rumors spread online. |
| Evaluate tips and leads to develop story ideas | Still human | None | A Kansas City newsroom that tried AI tools to turn statehouse meeting records into story ideas found they were not ready, so knowing which tip is a real story still takes beat knowledge and news judgment. [13] |
| Decide a story's emphasis, length and format and discuss priorities with editors | Still human | None | What leads, what gets cut and how a sensitive story is framed are judgment calls the newsroom answers for. |
| Take photos or video and conduct filmed interviews | Still human | None | Someone has to be there with the camera, and AP rules do not allow generative AI to add or remove anything from news photos, video or audio. [3] |
| Present live or recorded commentary and anchor news broadcasts | Still human | None | Audiences tune in for a trusted face and voice, and live television leaves no room for a machine to make things up. |
The job market for journalists
Source: News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists. BLS expects this job to shrink 6% over 2025 to 2035.
Where journalists can move next
GROWING · $74,750
Public relations specialist
PR work rests on relationships with reporters and quick judgment when a story breaks, which AI cannot carry. You already know what makes a pitch newsworthy and how journalists think, and median pay is higher than in reporting. [10]
Median pay $74,750 · outlook +2%GROWING · $90,390
Technical writer
Technical writers interview engineers and experts and turn complex material into clear instructions, which uses the same interviewing and explaining skills. AI drafts some documentation, so pairing writing with subject knowledge in a field like software or health matters. [11]
Median pay $90,390 · outlook +1%STEADY · $76,910
Writer and author
Books, long form features and newsletters built on your own reporting and voice are harder for AI to copy than short news items. BLS expects little or no change in jobs, and many writers freelance, so income can be uneven. [12]
Median pay $76,910 · outlook 0%AI tools changing this job
Our honest reviews of the tools named above.
Top picks: The Best AI Transcription Software · The Best AI Writing Tool
JOURNALIST AI PROOF KIT
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Quick questions
Will AI replace journalists?
Not the reporting itself, but the job market is shrinking. BLS projects a 6% drop in reporter jobs from 2025 to 2035 and blames falling advertising revenue and newsroom consolidation, not AI [2]. In a Reuters Institute survey of 280 news leaders, 67% said AI had not reduced roles so far and 16% reported a handful of cuts [5].
Can AI write news articles?
It can write templated ones. The AP began automating quarterly earnings stories in 2014, moving from about 300 hand written reports a quarter to as many as 4,400 [7]. For everything else, AP standards say AI must not create publishable content and its output is unvetted source material that needs checking [3].
What happened with the AI generated summer reading list in the Chicago Sun-Times?
In May 2025 the Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a syndicated summer reading list where many titles were invented by AI, attributed to real authors [4]. The freelance writer admitted he failed to check the chatbot output, and the syndicator King Features ended its relationship with him for not disclosing AI use [4].
What AI tools do journalists use?
The most common uses are behind the scenes: 64% of news leaders call back end automation such as transcription, copyediting help and tagging very important [5]. Reporters often use Otter for interview transcripts [6], Grammarly for copy cleanup [8] and Perplexity for quick background with linked sources [9].
Is journalism still a good career with AI?
It is a tough field, so go in with eyes open. The median reporter earned $62,200 in May 2025 and about 3,400 openings a year are expected [2], while Google search traffic to news sites fell 38% in the US over the year to November 2025 [5]. Reporters who bring original reporting, a beat and data or video skills are the hardest to replace.
Sources
Checked 2026-10-10. Verdicts are Leapscope's reading of these sources. We did not test these tools hands on for this page.
- News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists (27-3023.00), O*NET OnLine
- News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- New AP guidelines lay the groundwork for AI-assisted newsrooms, Engadget
- Summer Reading Picks That Don't Exist: Chicago Sun-Times Apologises For Promoting Fake Books, eWeek
- Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions 2026, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
- What is Otter.ai? Everything we know about journalists' favourite AI transcription tool, TechRadar
- The AP's Newest Business Reporter Is An Algorithm, Benton Institute (via Quartz)
- Grammarly home page, Grammarly
- How does Perplexity work?, Perplexity
- Public Relations Specialists, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Technical Writers, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Writers and Authors, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- The Beacon's illuminating experience in AJP's Product and AI Studio (January 8, 2026), The Beacon
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