Sahafi vs AI? Not quite

I’m back with another set of reflections on a conference — this time, the Sahafi Summit in Lahore held a couple of weeks ago. I know this has become something of a recurring theme, and this will probably be my last conference-focused op-ed for a while, but the event was genuinely worth writing about. It was fun, unexpectedly inspiring in parts, and one of those rare gatherings where you can discuss journalism without feeling the urge to bang your head against the nearest podium.

Before getting into the summit itself, it’s worth talking about its central theme: artificial intelligence. AI — the shiny, alarming, endlessly hyped force that some claim is coming for our jobs, our brains, and possibly our souls — took centre stage at this Sahafi get-together.

Let me begin with the most honest assessment I can offer: if anyone believes AI isn’t already being used in journalism, they’re either mistaken or lying. There is no third possibility. Let’s be real — everyone uses ChatGPT. The bold experiment with Gemini. The adventurous (or eccentric) swear by Claude. And somewhere out there, someone is secretly relying on something called “Google AI Studio Beta Ultra Something” and pretending they’re not.

Personally, I’m still a noob with most of these tools, and I couldn’t tell you how half of them work — something I need to fix soon. But I do use ChatGPT, not to write my stories, but for the sort of tasks an extremely efficient personal assistant might handle: cleaning up work lists, arranging my course outlines by date, reorganizing bullet points, sorting data. To me, it’s a support tool, nothing more — at least for now. But the larger point stands: AI is here, it’s everywhere, and we can stop pretending otherwise. And if anything, AI didn’t “break” journalism; it just exposed the fractures we’ve long ignored — shrinking newsrooms, low wages, and a culture that prizes speed over thoughtfulness. In that sense, AI is a mirror, and the reflection isn’t flattering.

Then there’s the second big fear: AI will wipe out jobs. Is that true? To a degree, yes. Transcribers and translators are already feeling the impact. Machines do both tasks brilliantly, in milliseconds, and without the annoying requirement of a salary. But is this the first time technology has reshaped our work? Of course not. We once had typists — until we didn’t. Compositors — until we didn’t. And as the song reminds us, “video killed the radio star.” (It didn’t, actually; radio simply reinvented itself — hello, podcasts.)