We’ve got the eye of the tiger! Just this January 11 and 12, 2024, the Friends of E traveled to the Univesity of Santo Tomas in Sampaloc, Manila to attend the 25th Inkblots with the theme: Innovating Campus Journalism in the Age of AI. 

The morning of the first day was greeted with the opening remarks of Christian Esguerra, Assistant Publications Adviser of The Varsitarian, on how both people and technology pose disruptions in Journalism. 

Esguerra also noted Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the biggest threat, being a tool that people use to cheat. Even so, it should not be feared if used correctly, for it can also oppose prevalent misinformation.

The keynote address by Ed Lingao, a news anchor of TV5 Network, shortly followed. He emphasized how journalism, as a vocation, and not just as a job, has undergone many issues throughout the years yet continues to adapt crucially. 

John Nery, a columnist and editorial consultant of Rappler, then spoke about how AI tools are “excellent in mediocrity”, as they may beat journalists in proper spelling and grammar but they cannot provide any opinion or stand in their entries, which is vital for editorials. 

The speech ended with a reminder that artificial intelligence should be used only as a medium to help raise voices, as it cannot replicate the hard work embedded in every piece of journalistic writing. 

The first chapter of the event closed with Nestor Cuartero, an entertainment columnist for Manila Bulletin, talking about the challenges of feature writing and how more imaginative ways of writing and reporting creative non-fiction can help combat them.

Cuartero also added tips on how to effectively question a person. The lessons imparted were then applied through an interview with the Best Actor Awardee for the historical film GOMBURZA, Cedrick Juan. 

Documentarist and now UP Diliman Asst. Prof. Kara David-Cancio began the second day of Inkblots with in-depth reporting. She said that technology is not complete without a story, and AI is only a tool that can never replace nor change it, because “If you have a bad story, you have a bad story”.

According to her, stories and videos are king. So, one should opt for something timeless, life-changing, more emphatic, and visually interesting to capture the audience. She finished using a note that with powerful stories, journalists are and should be the “watchdogs” of society.

To speak on behalf of photojournalism was Lisa Marie David, a freelance photojournalist who warned about the impact of AI in her field of work. She expressed the difficulty in determining AI-generated images from human-produced photos, which led to bots winning awards, devaluing the genuineness of real-life photographs.

However, she indicated that AI still lacks any trace of human authenticity, morality, and character, thus it can never do photojournalism.

Dominic Ligot, a Data Analyst and the founder of CirroLytix followed by introducing two types of AI. The discriminative is limited to certain people like programmers to interpret data, figure patterns, and conclude information. And the generative AI of today that creates prompts through the input of any person.

Ligot added that journalism has been affected by bot-induced fraud. Although its generative side may allow more open and quick content creation, summarization, and analysis, ethical considerations of safety, copyright, and disinformation should still be pondered. 

The last to speak was Rappler’s News Editor, Paterno Esmaquel II for religion reporting. He clarified that his topic encompasses how religion—an unseen force that reveals what cannot be unearthed in society—impacts lives and builds the biggest news events. 

It was emphasized in the end that continuous studying and covering innocent eyes to effectively listen to one’s emotions are among the best practices that help form the foundation of religion reporting, the “why” questions.

The event ended on a good note during fellowship night with acoustic-folk artist, Clara Benin’s live performance accompanied by her angelic voice and acoustic guitar. It was shortly followed by the awarding of certificates of participation to recognize every individual who took part in the affair.