Artificial intelligence (AI) is acceptable in various fields, including the media sector, but its application must be reasonable and well thought out, Julia Becker, Chairwoman of the Funke Media Group Supervisory Board, said, according to Report's correspondent covering the European Publishing Congress 2025 in Vienna.
“Uncontrolled and unrestricted use of artificial intelligence can not only damage democracies but completely destroy them — unless we agree on rules, a unified framework for use, binding standards, and penalties for working with AI,” she said during her speech at the congress.
Becker warned that if the development and application of AI is not properly regulated, it could lead to serious challenges, such as the creation of deepfakes that often appear highly convincing.
“In the end, this undermines the readers' trust. Today, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish a deepfake from reliable information, which is why people are finding it harder to trust the media,” she emphasized.
Becker pointed out that in the work of media organizations, AI should only be used to perform auxiliary tasks such as weather forecasts, formatting sports results, preparing stock market summaries, and gathering data for journalists.
“However, its use in areas such as investigative journalism and in-depth analytical reporting is unacceptable — that work must remain the responsibility of professional journalists,” she added.
The publisher also stressed that media outlets must adhere to the principles of transparency and are obliged to inform their audience whenever content has been created using AI technologies.
