Beckett was addressing students at the Asian College of Journalism, on “AI in Journalism,” where he discussed how AI can make the journalism more efficient and personalized.

“AI can help with delivering the right content to the right people at the right time in the right format,” he said.

Beckett highlighted the impact of AI on all aspects of news production process, including news gathering and distribution. “AI is very much part of the journalism fabric already…it has systematic significance,” he said.

Speaking on what has hindered news organisations from adopting AI, he stressed the importance of developing “education and training” tools to equip journalists with skills needed to survive in an industry that was changing.

“No point in creating these tools unless journalists understand how they work,” Beckett said.

However, stating that technology was not everything, he added that journalism still carried out functions that required basic aptitudes to do so.

“It’s another tool, and like any tool, it’s how you use it and how you design it that matters,” said Beckett.