By Enock Sithole
The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has generated both enthusiasm and concerns that certain professions and ways of performing certain tasks will be impacted in some ways, positively or negatively.
As a result, various scholars have entered the fray to posit their views on how the AI phenomenon will impact journalism education. Professor Cindy Royal of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University believes that AI “will be the educators’ job to direct students in the most effective ways to use AI to extend their capabilities, not replace them”.
Prof Royal, who regularly predicts the direction of internet innovation, for the NimenLab, recently wrote that “while many lament the possibilities for AI to replace both journalists and educators, I feel that there are approaches to AI that can achieve improved outcomes for both teachers and learners”.
Predicting the future of AI in journalism education, Prof Royal said: “I predict that journalism education will experience a new era of innovation due to the continued adoption of and experimentation with artificial intelligence applications.”
With regards to journalism education curriculum, Prof Royal wrote in her 2025 prediction that “AI can reduce the effort it takes to assess, learn, and apply new technologies and emerging concepts, add modules to an existing course to developing new courses based on current programming languages or applications, and undertake full-scale curriculum redesign”.
AI will assist in a scenario where adding the newest technology into the curriculum takes motivation, commitment, and time. “Many recognise the deficiencies in traditional journalism curriculum but feel overwhelmed by or not empowered to embark on innovation,” she argued, adding that AI would assist in this regard.
Some people might wonder if there will be a need for teachers in the future, “with AI providing such high-quality instruction, constant availability, and seemingly limitless patience”. She answered that “with the fast pace of change and the volume of potential topics and concepts to be learned, the role of educator will shift to become more of a curator and coach, guiding students toward the topics and approaches that will be most useful to them in the future and inspiring confidence in their ability to learn and apply them to the problems they wish to solve”.
The educator, added Prof Royal, will also model and encourage the critical thinking and ethical considerations necessary to judge the quality of AI output and integrate it well with the human element.
AI can be integrated into journalism education curricula, and AI tools would push students outside their comfort zones to achieve project goals, gain confidence in their work, validate ideas, and critique their output, she argued.
The technology would provide an agency for them to do so on their own, a self-sufficiency that should serve them well as they navigate careers in which lifelong learning will be required. “It will be the educators’ job to direct students in the most effective ways to use AI to extend their capabilities, not replace them.”
In her 2024 prediction, Prof Royal argued that there would be “mishaps and confusion. Same as it ever was” in the application of AI in the field of journalism, in particular. “AI will become more accessible and more useful, like search engines and social media. We will gladly give away all our private information in exchange for the value we perceive in using it. We’ll use AI platforms to write emails, contribute to stories, edit copy, analyse and present data, create graphics, prepare college papers, learn to code…”
Prof Royal added that while “we can’t predict what AI will look like in a year, we have an idea of where this is going, because we’ve been there. There will be company shakeups, new platforms, and emergent players. There will be ethical, social and legal implications. There will be mishaps and confusion.”
Her advice is not to avoid the technology but to “get knowledgeable” and use it critically.
The article, AI can be a useful tool in journalism education was originally published by Ajenda Newsletter on May 13, 2025