By Olubunmi Damilola
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept—it’s a powerful presence in today’s newsrooms, shaping how information is created, distributed, and consumed. But behind its glossy promises of efficiency and innovation lies a threat that could unravel the very fabric of democratic societies. Leading this global conversation is Ms. Timilehin Durotoye, a respected communication scholar and expert on AI, media governance, and digital democracy. With several high-impact publications in international journals, Miss. Durotoye has become one of the foremost voices calling attention to the ethical risks of unregulated AI in journalism, particularly in vulnerable democracies across the Global South, such as Nigeria.
First, artificial intelligence entered the newsroom as a novelty—writing weather blurbs, summarizing earnings, and personalizing newsfeeds. But today, it stands at the center of journalism’s future, raising difficult questions about truth, bias, and democracy itself. Across the globe, AI tools are rapidly changing how news is produced and consumed. Media organizations like The Associated Press and The Washington Post now rely on AI-powered systems to generate real-time election coverage, automate financial reports, and tailor news content to readers’ preferences. However, as this transformation unfolds, a growing number of experts are sounding the alarm about the deeper implications. Among them is Miss. Timilehin Durotoye, whose work on AI governance, media effects, and democracy is shaping policy conversations both in Africa and internationally. In a recent interview, Miss. Durotoye explained how AI, while promising greater efficiency in newsrooms, also risks eroding public trust and distorting civic discourse.
She described AI as “the Joker in the newsroom”—at first playful and useful, but ultimately unpredictable and dangerous if left unchecked. Drawing on her recently authored paper, The Impact of AI on Democracy, Miss. Durotoye emphasized that while AI technologies can aid transparency and journalistic efficiency, they could also contribute to misinformation, filter bubbles, and political polarization. In the paper, she and her co-authors examined how AI supports public participation and data governance, as well as how it exacerbates ideological division by feeding users content that reinforces their existing views. AI, she warns, is capable of quietly influencing what people believe without them even realizing it. Beyond that, it can be weaponized, as seen during the 2020 U.S. elections when deepfakes and AI-generated bots were used to spread falsehoods. Miss. Durotoye also referenced her widely cited co-authored paper, A Scholarly Definition of Artificial Intelligence in Communication Research, to explain how AI is facilitating the rise of pseudo-information in an era of post-truth, where it is increasingly difficult to distinguish real from fake.
She was particularly concerned about the Nigerian media landscape, which faces unique vulnerabilities. Nigeria’s news ecosystem is heavily dependent on Western-owned AI platforms, yet it lacks sufficient legal safeguards or editorial oversight to manage their influence. According to her, this creates a dangerous power imbalance. “Our media is operating on infrastructure we don’t control,” she said, “and that makes us vulnerable to foreign and domestic manipulation.” Political misinformation driven by AI is rising in Nigeria, yet no national framework exists to regulate it. Journalists have limited training in AI ethics, and the public is largely unaware of how algorithms shape what they see online. During election cycles, AI-enhanced propaganda has already influenced voter perception and deepened distrust in institutions. Miss. Durotoye believes the country must act now before the credibility of its democratic processes is further undermined.
Despite these risks, she remains optimistic—if action is taken quickly. In The Impact of AI on Democracy, she and her co-authors propose several solutions: stronger editorial oversight to ensure AI is used as a tool and not a decision-maker; public education campaigns to raise AI literacy; and transparent policies requiring companies to disclose how their algorithms work. During our conversation, she also highlighted the African Union’s new continental AI strategy as a framework Nigeria could adopt and customize. “We cannot afford to be passive recipients of global AI trends,” she said. “Nigeria must develop local policies that reflect its media, cultural, and political realities.”
Miss. Durotoye believes AI can be used to strengthen—not weaken—journalism, but only if governance structures are put in place and people are educated about how the technology works.
Her passion for this work is backed by an impressive academic record. Her research has appeared in leading journals such as Social Science and Computer Review, Political Communication, Telematics and Informatics, PLOS ONE, and others. Through her scholarship, she continues to advocate for an ethical, inclusive, and democratic approach to incorporating digital and AI technology in media. As she concluded in our interview, “AI should assist journalists, not replace them. If we don’t get this right now, we risk turning journalism into a performance stage for machines, where the audience no longer knows what is real, and democracy suffers in the process.”